Forever Gone
by Rossignol1984
Summary: Completed! Sequel to I Belong To You! SS are happily married, but only too soon, tragedy strikes and they find themselves fighting for their bliss... please read and review!
1. News That Change The World

_Hello people!_

_This is my third fanfic, the sequel to "Love Hurts" and "I Belong To You"! Seth and Summer are married happily, but drama strikes only too soon…._

_Please read and review, it means a lot!_

_Steffi_

**News that change the world**

"Cohen, you won't believe what happened! It's like the best news ever!"

Seth jumped up from the couch when the high voice of his wife interrupted his little Saturday afternoon nap he was taking.

"The next edition will be out on Monday, I promise!" he replied, looking quite confused.

Summer Cohen laughed and went over to her husband to kiss him. "I'm sorry I woke you up," she said lovingly, "but as I said, I have the best news ever."

Seth rubbed his eyes and tried to wake up completely. He slumped back on the couch. "What happened?" he asked groggily.

Summer clutched her hands tightly together. "You are going to be an uncle!" she sung and grinned from one ear to the other.

Seth frowned and yawned. "To whom?"

Summer shook her head, seeming quite unnerved and sat next to Seth. "God, to whom? You have so many siblings that you don't know which one becomes a father, right?" she said. When Seth didn't answer, Summer just sighed and went on. "Marissa's pregnant." She said, smiling.

Seth kept on frowning. "And this is a good thing, right?"

Summer punched her husband in the ribs. "Of course it is! She and Ryan have been trying to get pregnant for so long, and now it finally worked out!"

"Cool." Seth rubbed his forehead.

Summer rolled her eyes and sighed. "Try and talk to men about babies." She said and stood up.

Seth took hold of Summer's arm and made her slump down on the couch again.

"I'm sorry, but this baby is probably the size of a bean right now, and I don't see what's so exciting about it for me. It's cool for Ryan and Marissa, but it's gonna be even cooler when they have it. Right?"

Summer just stared at Seth, one of her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed in front of her chest. "You men don't understand that." She simply said.

Seth smiled. "Why are you so upset about it? It's not our baby. And it doesn't mean that I'm not happy for them. I'm just not so ethusiastic… as you are."

Summer smiled back at Seth. "Aaaalright, I give up. I don't stand a chance against you anyways." She said and Seth started to tickle her.

"Exactly."

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"Sum? Are you okay in there?" Marissa asked, frowning. She had been coming over to join Summer for an afternoon coffee on Summer's and Seth's balcony of their penthouse that gave a breathtaking view over Newport and the ocean.

Summer had been disappearing to the bathroom a good while ago, and Marissa started to wonder what might take her friend so long.

A muffled cough came from the bathroom. "Sure, Coop, I am. Why don't you make youself comfortable on the balcony?"

Marissa shrugged and went out again, taking a huge slice of cake when she crossed the kitchen. She was now four months pregnant, and she really enjoyed being able to eat everything whenever she felt like it.

On the balcony, she laid her feet on the balustrade and ate her slice of cake.

Inside the bathroom, Summer wiped away the sweat that was on her forehead. Her head was aching from throwing up. This had been going on for several days now, and Summer knew only too well what those signs could mean.

With her heart pounding to her chest, she held up the small pregnancy test stick she had just taken and waited for the colors to change.

When she heard Marissa coming into the apartment again, she quickly opened the bathroom door and handed the pregnancy test over to her.

"I'm too excited to check, can you tell me the result when it's on?"

Marissa's eyes widened and a bride smile crossed her face as she took the test stick. "Oh my God, Sum, are you serious?"

Summer stood in front of Marissa, looking very insecure. She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I've been pregnant once, but I didn't feel as miserable then as I feel now... even though my situation was much more miserable then."

Her thoughts went back to her first pregnancy, and how scared she had been when she had first found out about it. She had been living with her ex-boyfriend Eric then, a very violent man that had beaten her all the time. Summer's life had been a mess then, and only when Eric was caught by the police she had been able to make a new start.

Unfortunately, this new start contained the loss of her and Eric's baby. Fortunately, it meant marrying Seth and leading the happy life she had always wished for.

And now she was pregnant again, or at least she thought so. But it was different this time, because if she really was having a baby, it would be a baby that had been made out of love, not violence.

Marissa kept a totally straight face as she waited for the colors on the pregnancy test to change.

Summer bit her lip and tried to read her best friend's eyes. She nervously kneaded her hands. "What is it, Coop? Am I pregnant?"

Marissa smiled and shook her head. "Not yet." She answered, her eyes not leaving the stick she held.

Summer's heart beated incredibly fast. She didn't even know why she was so excited. Even if Seth and her had been married since two years now, they hadn't planned on children yet. So if she wasn't pregnant it wouldn't be a big deal,

because unlike to Ryan and Marissa, she and Seth didn't want a baby yet.

After a few more moments, Marissa sighed and put down the pregnancy test. She looked Summer in the eyes, trying not to give away the test results.

Summer's eyes widened out of curiousity. "So?" she asked impatiently.

Marissa tried to suppress her smile, but her happiness wouldn't let her. "You are pregnant!" she yelled.

Summer let out a tiny scream and took the test, wanting to see the result with her own eyes. "Oh my God, Coop, I'M PREGNANT!" she shouted, jumping up and down.

Marissa clapped her hands and hugged her best friend tightly. "I'm so happy for you!" she said and grinned.

Summer laughed. "And I'm happy for you!"

When they let go of each other, Summer couldn't stop smiling. "God, Coop, this is so cool, you and me, best friends, and both pregnant at the same time! It's fantastic!"

"I know!" Marissa replied, still smiling as well. "You know what, we need to celebrate! Let's take our men out for dinner tonight!"

Summer nodded enthusastically. "I'll call the restaurant and make reservations!" she chimed, running over to the telephone. She couldn't wait and tell Seth the big news.

Next chapter: Just An Idiot...


	2. Just An Idiot

_Chapter two up!_

_Seth gets himself into trouble because of his big mouth ;) But read yourself and find out ;)_

_Please review:)_

_Steffi_

**Just An Idiot**

The group met outside the Diner at the Pier, their favorite place to grab some food since High School.  
Marissa and Summer hugged as they saw each other. Since Summer had found out about her pregnancy this afternoon, she seemed to glow from excitement. Marissa loved to see her best friend so happy. After all she had been going through before marrying Seth, bliss finally seemed to give her what she deserved.  
Ryan and Seth exchanged a brotherly handshake and started to go in, dragging Summer and Marissa behind them.

"So have you told him yet?" Marissa asked, pointing out to Seth who was locked in a conversation with his brother.  
Summer shook her head, her long brown hair swinging around her shoulder as she did so. "Not yet. I need a special moment for it, you know. Like a candlelight dinner or something like that."

Marissa smiled. "Very classy, good idea." She said.  
Summer smiled back. "I know it's not very original, but I want it to be perfect. This is like the best moment of my life, and I want to make it memorable forever." She paused and frowned. "God, this sounds so damn cheesy, I don't know myself anymore." Seeming disgusted, she shook her head. "I guess it's the hormones."  
The girls laughed and followed their men to their favorite table.

After ordering, the subject of the conversation focused on the latest news, and in this case, it was Marissa's pregnancy and the fact that Ryan and her would be parents soon.  
"So when are you gonna ask Marissa to marry you?" Seth asked and grinned at Ryan.  
Even though Ryan and Marissa had been living together pretty much since college and even though they were expecting a baby, they still didn't want to get married.  
"I don't plan on it so soon, why are you bothering?" Ryan asked jokingly, his eyes narrowed.

Marissa jumped in for Ryan's defense. "We don't need to get married. At least not now, since I would be the fattest bride ever."  
The group laughed and Marissa shook her head. "No, we don't need to get married." She repeated. "We're happy as it is now."

Summer smiled to herself, her thoughts going towards the little baby that was growing inside of her. She felt like the happiest person on earth, carrying the proof of love between her and the man she loved the most inside of her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Marissa, who pulled a sonogram picture out of her handbag. "You wanna see the baby?" she asked.  
"Oh yeah please, I'd LOVE to!" Seth said, making fun of the girls and how excited they became whenever the subject changed to babies.  
Marissa gave Seth an unnerved look and put the sonogram on the table.  
Summer took it and broke into a huge grin. "Coop, it's so cute! It's like the perfect human being!"  
Marissa smiled broadly. "Do you wanna know what it is?"

Summer's eyes widened. "You know what it is? Oh my God, of course I want to know!"  
Marissa smirked at her best friend. "Guess."  
Summer examined the picture carefully. "Well, I can't see the little thing on it, so I guess…" She left the question unasked.  
Marissa nodded proudly. "We're having a girl!" she chimed, clutching her hands tightly together.

Summer felt some tears of joy rising inside of her, the hormones of pregnancy giving their best to make her cry now.  
She waved with her hand to stop the tears from coming, but when she saw that Marissa started to cry as well, she let them run.  
The two girls took each other's hands and mumbled things about being happy and everything being perfect.

Ryan and Seth exchanged some unnerved glances.  
"Man, you've gotten yourself into some deep s, do you know that?" Seth joked, leaning back into his seat.  
Ryan nodded. "Believe me, I know."  
"Hormones, crying, laughing, yelling, morning sickness, mood swings… great stuff." Seth went on counting the – to him – bad aspects of pregnancy.

Summer gave him an angry glance. "God Cohen, shut up!" she said, hitting Seth's knee with her foot.  
"Ouch! What did I do to you?" Seth asked reproachfully.  
"Just stop talking like that in front of Marissa, okay?"

Seth shrugged and went on talking to Ryan. "See, that's why I don't need any children. I'm being bossed around enough from my wife."  
Summer let go of Marissa's hands and put them on her hips. "What does that mean, you don't need any children?"  
"See, children are dirty, they wake you up in the middle of the night, you need to worry about them all the time, let alone the huge responsibility you have to take when you have one…. They cost a lot of money… shall I go on?"

Summer felt her heart sinking. Was Seth being serious?  
"You're… just joking, right?" she asked, hesitating.  
Seth firmly shook his head. "Nope."  
Summer watched him and couldn't reply. She was too occupied with her thoughts at the moment.  
Seth laid one of his arms around Summer's shoulders, pulling her closer. "We don't need any children. For now, life's easier without them." He said.

Summer's heart pounded heavily now. She felt new tears coming up inside of her. When no one said anything, she excused herself to the bathroom to gather herself.

Marissa gave Seth an angry look. "You're such an idiot." She said and went after her best friend.

Seth looked at Ryan, shocked. "I was just joking. You know that I was joking, right?"  
Ryan nodded. "Yeah, I know. Seems like the ladies aren't in the mood for a joke today."

_Next chapter: "Too Blind To See"..._


	3. Too Blind To See

_Hey there! _

_Double update for New Year's!_

_It's the last two mushy chapters before tragedy starts…_

_I hope you like it, and if you read, please review!_

_A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys are great!_

_Steffi_

**Too Blind To See **

"So, what's this secret meeting all about? I need to get back to the office, I have tons of work." Seth said, exchanging a brotherly handshake with Ryan. On Ryan's suggestion, the two boys met for lunch the following day.

Usually, Seth didn't have time for lunches or any other breaks during work time, since his own comic book company kept him occupied almost all day. Seth was glad about the success he had, but sometimes he wished he could spend more time together with Summer and his friends.

And even if this week was a very busy week, Seth had managed to get to the meeting with Ryan, who had told him that what he had to say was urgent.

Ryan pointed out to an outside table of the Newport Beach Café and sat down.  
"Look, I don't have that much time either, so I'll get straight to the point."  
Seth nodded. He really appreciated that Ryan wanted to clarify the mysterious thing fast.  
Ryan sighed. "Have you ever wondered why Summer was so upset yesterday at the diner?"

Seth's eyes narrowed. "Well, honestly, no. I mean she's a woman, so I guess that's kinda normal."

Ryan shook his head. He started to mimick Seth. "Well, honestly, I think you should talk to her. It's obvious that something's wrong."

Seth shook his head. He didn't understand a word Ryan was saying. Suddenly, it clicked. "Did you talk to Marissa about Summer?" he asked.

Ryan shook his head. "There was no need to. You just have to look at Summer to see what's going on. I can't believe you're so blind, man."  
He stood up and patted Seth on the shoulder. "I really need to head back to the office, Sandy hates it when I'm too late."

Seth raised his hands. "What, that's it? You won't tell me what's going on with my wife?"  
Ryan shook his head. "Just stop focusing on yourself. You'll see."  
Seth sighed and frowned.   
What the hell was Ryan talking about?

It was late in the evening, and Seth hadn't stopped thinking about what Ryan had told him at lunch. Could he really be so blind and not see what was going on with Summer? He had seen it years before when she was beaten by Eric, but now that she was his wife, he didn't see what was going on. He unlocked the front door of their apartment and went in carefully, not wanting to wake Summer.

From the living room he could see that the tv was still on, its blue light flickering through the whole apartment. Seth hung his coat on the wardrobe and went into the living room on tiptoes. Summer lay on the couch, covered by her favorite woollen blanket, wearing her flanel PJs she loved so much.

Seth walked around the couch to see if Summer was already asleep. But instead of peacefully sleeping, her eyes were wide open, tiny tears running down her cheeks.  
When she spotted Seth, Summer suppressed more tears that were about to come.

Seth frowned and knelt down in front of Summer's face. He softly wiped some of the tears away with his thumb.  
"Do you wanna tell me what's going on?" he softly asked, his gaze worried.

Summer sniffed and fought more tears. She looked at Seth desperately.   
Seth's heart started to beat faster. "You're scaring me. Please tell me what's wrong." He said, his thumb still tracing the features of her beautiful face.  
Summer sighed and sat up. "Sit with me. Please." She whispered, trying to gather herself. 

Seth did as he was told and took one of Summer's hands. He stared at his wife anxiously, dying to know what was wrong with her.

Summer let out a deep breath and focused on Seth's eyes that were full of concern. "I need to tell you something." She said.

"What is it?" Seth asked, his hand squeezing tighter over Summer's.   
Summer cleared her throat and reached behind the couch pillows. She pulled out a tiny black and white photo and handed it to Seth. 

Seth frowned and took the picture in both of his hands, holding it very close to his face. It was a sonogram. "Is this Marissa's baby?" he asked, not really understanding what his wife wanted to tell him with the photo.

Summer hesitated to answer for a moment and shook her head. "No." she replied and took one of Seth's hands. She moved it down to her belly and stared at him intensively. "It's in here." She whispered almost inaudibly. Her gaze was anxious and Seth could almost see how heavy her heart was beating.

Seth's feelings almost overwhelmed him with the tiny photo he held in one hand, and with his other hand on the place where the little thing in the photo was at the moment.  
He started laughing. "Are you serious?" he asked.

Summer's gaze changed from being insecure to being full of joy. She felt new tears coming up, but this time, she wasn't afraid to let them show. She nodded enthusiastically.

Seth laughed and ran his hands through his hair. "And you were so down all the time because of what I said at the diner the other day?" he asked, suddenly understanding everything that had been going on with Summer. Beause of the stupid jokes he had made, Summer was afraid that he wouldn't want to be a father.

Summer nodded again. "Kind of," she admitted and shrugged.  
Seth shook his head, still smiling, and took Summer's face in his hands. "I was just joking, to tease Ryan and Marissa! I didn't mean a word I said then, I thought you'd understand!"

Suddenly, Summer felt incredibly stupid. How could she ever have thought that Seth wouldn't want to have children with her? He always talked about having a whole football team, so why wouldn't he want to have the one she was carrying right now?

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was scared and…" more tears came up and Summer had to stop talking.

Seth pulled her closer. "You're making me the happiest man on earth." He said and kissed her softly.

Summer couldn't help but fall into Seth's arms and hug him tightly. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear, closing her eyes. She had never felt so happy before.  
Seth softly pushed her away and looked her deep into the eyes. "I love you." he said.  
Summer's heart felt like flying. "I love you too."

Seth shook his head and grinned broadly. "I can't believe this!" he yelled. "I'm becoming a father! You're making me a father!" He gave Summer a passionate kiss on the lips. "I love you. I just can't stop saying it. I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Summer laughed happily and kissed Seth's hand. "I understand." She said, grinning broadly.  
Seth laughed as well. He took Summer's hand and stood up. He went over to the stereo and played one of the songs from his romantic hits collection.

Summer smiled as the first chords of Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" started to play. She slightly shook her head and sniffed. "Very glamorous, me dancing with you in my PJs." She joked and leant into Seth's embrace.

_Have I told you lately that I love you  
Have I told you there's no one else above you  
You fill my heart with gladness  
Take away all my sadness  
Ease my troubles that's what you do_

"I'm happy." She whispered, her head resting on Seth's chest.

_You fill my life with laughter  
And somehow you make it better  
Ease my troubles that's what you do_

Seth pulled her only closer. "Me too."

Until the song faded out, neither of them said a word. They just enjoyed each other's company, knowing that his baby would be the coronation of their love.  
They were just happy awaiting the days that were about to come.

_Have I told you lately that I love you  
Have I told you there's no one else above you  
You fill my heart with gladness  
Take away all my sadness  
Ease my troubles that's what you do_

_Next chapter: The Small Things Make The Difference_


	4. The Small Things Make The Difference

_The last chapter before tragedy… please review!_

The Small Things Make The Difference 

Seth was so proud of himself. He stood in the guest room of his and Summer's apartment that was about to become a room for their new baby. There was still time until the baby would come, Summer was just five months pregnant now, but Seth knew that when the little Cohen would be there, everything should be just perfect.

And today that Summer had been shopping for baby clothes and toys and all of the stuff he wasn't a specialist for, Seth had decided to start with the renovations of the guest room. He hadn't quite understood why Marissa had agreed to go shopping with Summer, given the fact that her she was due any day now.  
But that was probably what women did – shopping until the very end.

Seth focused his mind back on the room. The coloring of the walls had been finished pretty quickly – painting was where Seth's talents kept hiding – and since Seth didn't allow Summer to do any heavy work during her pregnancy, he hadn't had much choice but to built together the furniture, the crib, the changing table and all the other things himself.

Heavy lifting and building up and all that stuff really wasn't Seth's specialty, but today, thanks to some handyman miracle, he had managed to completely renovate the new room.   
Without any help.

If he had been able to, Seth would have patted his own shoulder right now.  
He looked around and everything seemed to be just perfect.  
He imagined their little baby lying in the beautiful crib, sleeping peacefully, he imagined it crawling around on the floor, playing with its toys and just being happy to be alive.

The baby's first sonogram picture was hung over the small crib, to remind them how everything had begun.   
Seth touched the picture carefully. He couldn't wait to see his first child and to hold it in his arms. Raising a child would be the greatest adventure ever. And doing it with the love of his life would make it even better.

Just when Seth had been really into his daydreaming, he heard the front door fling open. He ran out of the room and closed the door behind him. He couldn't wait to show Summer that he had done all of the renovation alone.  
From Summer's gaze, Seth could tell that she was really excited. She grinned broadly and came running over towards him.

Summer gave Seth a quick kiss and clapped her hands.  
"Cohen, I have like the best news ever!" she chimed.  
Seth raised one eyebrow. "Again?" he just asked. "Who's pregnant now?"  
Summer laughed and shook her head. "Actually, there's so many best news, I don't know with which one to start."

Seth smiled. Whatever it was that made Summer so happy, he liked it.   
"Actually, I have some great news, too." he replied, grinning from one ear to the other.  
Summer crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Really? I bet mine are better than yours."  
Seth shook his head and smiled. He stroked Summer's arms with his hands. "OK, so you go first."

Summer took Seth's hand and pulled him over to the couch.  
"Let's sit down, my feet are killing me." she announced, leaning back into the soft couch pillows.  
She faced her husband and smiled. "Marissa's gone into labor last night!"

Seth's eyes widened. "Already? And who've you been shopping with?"  
Summer shook her head. "No one! I stopped by at her and Ryan's place and didn't find anyone there. So I called her cell and there was Ryan who answered me and told me they were at the hospital."

"Well then we have to go there, right?" Seth asked.  
Summer nodded. "I've already been there for like four hours or something and I told your mother I'd go home and bring you with me."

Seth frowned. "Four hours? How long has Marissa been in labor yet?"  
Summer sighed. "Since last night, poor girl. I hope she'll have the baby soon." She patted Seth's thigh. "So come on, what you're waiting for? Time to go to the hospital!"

Seth pointed towards the guest room. "But my surprise…"  
Summer waved with her hand. "That can wait. You're becoming an uncle, that's what's important here!"  
Seth shrugged and got up without resisting. Summer was right.  
His surprise could wait. 

A few hours later, a very exhausted Seth and Summer entered their apartment again, Summer wearing a dreamy smile on her face.  
She slumped down on the couch again, motioning for Seth to join her.   
Seth leant back into the pillows and Summer leant against him, her head resting on his shoulder as she did so.

Seth's hands went down to her belly and stroked it. Summer smiled happily.   
"Now we'll need to wait until this one comes out." Seth said and kissed Summer's head.

Summer kept on smiling. She thought about the day she had. After hours of waiting at the hospital, she had been finally able to see the most beautiful baby girl in the whole world, lying in Marissa's arms who had given birth to her.

Summer had known Marissa for a long time now, but she had never seen her best friend so happy before. The longer she had been to the hospital, the less she could await the arriving of her own baby.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked, looking down on his wife. Summer hadn't said a word since they had arrived home, and that was worrying him a little.  
Summer nodded. "Yeah." she answered and stroked Seth's hands that were still resting on her belly.

"Do you wanna see my surprise?" Seth asked, breaking the silence.   
Summer faced him. "Sure, I do. Where is it?"  
Seth took one of Summer's hands and guided her towards the former guest room. He covered her eyes with his hands.  
Summer giggled as he did so. "What's that about?" she asked.

Seth grinned broadly. "You'll see." He opened the door.  
Summer could smell fresh colors. When Seth removed his hands silently, she looked around and saw the most beautiful baby room ever. Seth had taken care of everything. Toys, decorations, furniture, coloring, lights… happy tears came to her face and her hands went to her chest.

"God Cohen, it's beautiful!" she said, breathtaken. "Did you do all this by yourself?"  
Seth grinned proudly and stuck out his chest. "Of course I did. Everything you see here is 100 Cohen classic."  
Summer laughed and turned around to kiss him. "It's perfect." she whispered.

"Now… do you wanna see my surprise?"  
Seth smiled. "Sure. I love surprises."  
Summer smiled back and sat down on the floor, Seth joining her.  
Out of her dress pocket, Summer pulled a little envelope. She laid it in front of her. "I haven't opened it yet, and maybe we won't open it at all, but yeah…"  
Seth frowned. "What is in there?" he asked.

Summer sighed. "It's the baby's gender. Dr Miller wrote it down for me since I wasn't sure if we wanted to know…" she looked at Seth expectingly.

Seth wore a mischievous grin. "And you thought that now Marissa had a girl, you need to know what you're having."  
Summer shifted back and forth. "Kind of." she shyly replied.

Seth grinned. "Well, I would want to know…" he said.  
Summer smiled back. "Me too… so… we'll open it?"  
Seth nodded. He crawled over to Summer and hugged her from behind. "Let's open it together."  
Summer sighed, excited, and ripped the envelope open.

Seth and Summer spotted the gender at the same time.   
Simultaneously, both of them smiled at each other and shared a long, passionate kiss of pure happiness.

After exchanging their I love you's, they watched the three words that told them the gender of their first child. Just a tiny little thing and those three words made the difference between daughter and son.  
And at that moment, those three words were the best words in the whole world.

It's a boy.

_Get prepared for tragedy in the next chapter: Baby Cohen_


	5. Baby Cohen

_Hey everybody!_

_I'm back from my holiday and I'll be updating more currently now!_

_Today, drama starts… _

_Well, I hope you like it!_

_And please review if you read it!_

_Thanks beforehand!_

_Steffi_

**Baby Cohen**

Was it supposed to be so warm in there?

Summer had awoken from her sleep and found herself all sweaty and hot. It was late February, so why would she be sweating at all?

She looked over to Seth to see if he was hot, too. No sign of that, he was even covered in his blanket, peacefully sleeping.

Summer sighed and wiped away some sweat that had appeared on her forehead. She heaved her body out of the bed, a thing that was not to be done easily since she was now only three days away from her due date.

On tiptoes, Summer walked over to the air condition to turn it on when she first felt this pain coming through her belly.

She immediately laid a hand on her belly and propped herself with the other one on the window sill.

Was that a contraction? Had she gone to labor without noticing it?

The pain increased, and Summer clutched her hand tighter to the window sill. She hadn't been to labor before, but she knew that she was now.

Seth had to know. He had to drive her to the hospital.

When the contraction was over, Summer leant onto the wall, sighing. She was scared and excited at the same time.

She walked over to the bed and watched Seth's peacefully sleeping face. A smile crossed her face and she stroked Seth's hair.

Summer couldn't believe how much she loved him. She knew that she would always want to be with him, and now he was about to give her the greatest present a woman could imagine. He would make her a mother.

Everything could have been perfect now if it wasn't for a new contraction to come up in Summer's body.

She slowly sat down on the bedside next to Seth, breathing and waiting until the contraction was over.

* * *

Seth awoke when he heard somebody whimper right next to him. He opened his eyes and saw Summer sitting on his bedside, her eyes closed and her breathing steady.

Summer's hand was on her belly. Seth moved his hand over hers, trying to find out what was going on.

Summer didn't react at first, only a few seconds later she let out a huge sigh and looked him in the eyes.

Seth sat up, a groggy look on his face. He rubbed his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, stroking Summer's face.

Seth watched Summer's face break into a smile. "I think I've gone into labour." She replied.

Within seconds, Seth's eyes widened and his head began shouting orders at him. He jumped up from the bed, ran over to the wardrobe and searched for something to dress, completely ignoring Summer at the moment.

His actions were interrupted by Summer's arms that hugged him from behind.

"No need to panic," she said in a calm voice. "You and me get dressed, and then we'll go to the hospital. Right?"

Seth squeezed Summer's hands. He smiled to himself. Summer prooved once again how strong she really was.

He turned around and kissed her long and passionately on the mouth.

"Right." He answered, hugging her again. "I'm just a little excited." He added.

Summer grinned. "I'm not, I'm doing this everyday, you know." she joked.

The love that Seth felt right now topped all of the feelings he had ever had for Summer. "It's time." He whispered into her ear. "We're having a baby."

* * *

Kirsten and Sandy Cohen came rushing into the hospital, heading for the reception desk.

When no one was to be seen there, Sandy nervously drummed with his fingers on the counter. "Is nobody working here?" he shouted while looked around to find a doctor or nurse.

Kirsten smiled and took Sandy's hand. "And I thought I would be the nervous one." She said and squeezed her husband's hand.

"Hey, I'm becoming a grandfather, I need to be excited." Sandy said, holding up his free hand in apology.

"Well, you… Ryan!" Kirsten let go of Sandy's hand when she spotted one of her sons walking up towards them. Ryan carried his now almost four month old baby daughter Lila and smiled at Kirsten.

"Hey, I guess I know who you're looking for." He said and gave Kirsten a hug. Sandy greeted Ryan by patting him on the shoulder.

The center of attention now was on the cute little baby girl, Kirsten and Sandy's first grandchild.

"Oooh, you seem to be getting bigger every day." Kirsten sung towars Lila's cute little face. "She looks exactly like Marissa, it's almost scary." She added.

Ryan smiled. "Yeah, maybe that's a good thing." He joked, smiling at his baby. After a short moment, he looked at Sandy and Kirsten again.

"I guess you're looking for Seth and Summer?"

Kirsten nodded. "How is the poor girl?"

Ryan smiled. "Summer's doing fine so far. The doctors say the baby could come any minute now."

"How's Seth?" Sandy asked, a knowing grin on his lips.

Ryan grinned and nodded. "Yeah, he could be better. But he could be worse, though, too."

Kirsten and Sandy exchanged a knowing look. They hadn't expected any other behavior from their son.

Ryan pointed with his head towards the corner of the hall.

"Come on now, I'll show you to Summer's room."

* * *

Summer pushed her fingernails further into Seth's arm as another contraction came rushing through her body. All she wanted right now was for this nightmare to end. She couldn't concentrate on anything else than the pain that held posession of her. She heard the doctor and the nurse talking to each other, she felt Seth's hand clutching hers, but she didn't perceive the words that were said or the things that were done. The pain numbed all of her senses, and the further the birth went on, the more Summer felt that she was fading out of this world into her own.

Seth stroked Summer's head as she started to fight another contraction. He hated to see his beloved wife suffer like this. The whole birth had been taking way too long now, and he could sense the hectic that was coming up between the nurse and the doctor. He talked to Summer in a low and comforting voice, stroking her head and just trying to be there for her. With every second that went by, Summer seemed to pass out more and more.

Seth bit his lip and looked at the doctor. He didn't like the concerned look on his face.

Suddenly, Seth felt how Summer's clutch on his arm stopped from one second to the another, and he saw that her head had slumped to one side.

The machine that took the baby's heartbeat suddenly beeped in a very high and urging tone.

The nurse ran over to Summer and tried to wake her up from her unconsciousness.

And from that moment on everything happened in an incredible fast pace.

The doctor that had already been present shoved Seth away from Summer's side and checked her vital signs. Another doctor came running into the room and hovered over Summer.

Seth's heart pounded like crazy, and he felt the adrenaline pouring through his veins. What was happening?

"What's wrong? What's wrong with her?" he shouted, while kneading his hands.

"We lost the baby's vital signs!" The nurse yelled without looking up.

Oh God. What was happening? "What about Summer?"

Seth didn't get an answer, the doctor's were too busy pulling needles and other stuff in and out Summer's lifeless body.

Suddenly it seemed like all the sheets that Summer was lying in coloring red. From the place he was standing, Seth could only see that it was Summer's blood that kept on spreading all over the bed.

Seth was scared to death as he watched the horrible scene that took place right in front of his eyes.

Before Seth could realize what was happening, the two doctors pushed Summer and her bed out of the room, ignoring him completely. Seth ran after them, dying to know what was going on with the baby, and most of all, Summer. "What's wrong? Where are you bringing her?" Seth shouted, deperate.

"We need to get your wife into the OR right now." One of the doctor's answered.

Seth had trouble to keep up with the doctors and understand what they were saying. "Why? What's wrong?"

One of the doctors broke free from the run with the bed and grabbed Seth by the shoulders. The other doctor kept on pushing Summer's bed through the long hall of the hospital. When he disappeared around the corner, Seth tried to follow him, but the first doctor wouldn't let him.

"Why are you stopping me? I want to be with my wife!" Seth screamed, totally in rage and desperation.

"Mr Cohen, you need to calm down-"

"Calm down? My whole family's been brought away and I don't know what's going on!"

The doctor sighed and told Seth to sit down on one of the chairs that were in front of them.

Seth's parents, as well as Ryan and Marissa who had watched the action from a distance now joined Seth and the doctor to find out what was happening.

The doctor sighed and sat opposite of Seth who looked desperate.

"Mr Cohen, my colleagues are bringing your wife into the OR right now."

Kirsten frowned and put a hand on her son's shoulder. "What is wrong with her?" she asked. "You told us a few minutes ago that everything was fine."

The doctor looked up at Kirsten and gave her a concerned look.

Seth sat in the chair and kept staring at the ground, kneading his hands. He perceived what was said, but he couldn't focus on it. His thoughts went out to Summer and his unborn son. His whole body ached to be with them.

"During one of her contractions Mrs Cohen passed out. We tried to awake her at first, but then we lost the baby's heartbeat. We tried to restore its vital signs but it didn't react. And then all of a sudden Mrs Cohen lost a huge amount of blood."

"So what does that mean?" Marissa asked now, wearing a concerned look on her face. She held her daughter in her arms, clutching her tight to her breast.

"We're guessing that Mrs Cohen had a placenta ablation. That would explain the huge loss of blood and the baby's vital signs."

"How serious is it?" Sandy asked, patting Seth who still sat motionless in the chair on the shoulder.

The doctor cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, it's very serious. If the baby isn't born within minutes now, and if the bleeding doesn't get fixed, then…" He gave the family a concerned look.

Seth nodded and had to fight tears. "Then they're gonna die." He whispered.

Kirsten knelt down beside him, laying her arm around his shoulder. "I'm sure they're gonna be fine. Summer's a very strong person."

Seth bit his lip. With his mother's arm around him, he couldn't help but let all of the tension of the past few hours free. Tears came running down his cheeks and he leant into his mother's embrace.

Kirsten tried to comfort him as best as she could.

The most terrible thing for the family now was to wait.

_Next chapter: Who Am I?_


	6. Who Am I?

_Hi everybody!_

_First of all, a huge thank you for all of your amazing reviews! I'm so glad you like the story! I hope you enjoy reading it further… the first of two major tragedies hits the young Cohen family…_

_Please R/R!_

_Steffi_

**Who am I? **

Seth sat at Summer's bed, watching her sleeping. In his arms, he held a little baby, their baby. It was a healthy little boy with brown hair and deep dark eyes. A few hours ago, the baby had been born by a Caesarian sectio to save his and Summer's life.

Seth and his family had been waiting for what seemed forever until the doctor finally exited the OR and told them that everything had been going fine. Everyone was relieved then, and Seth let out a tiny prayer of gratitude.

And now his and Summer's son was only an hour old, but he was perfect. Seth knew that he had never seen a more perfect and beautiful person in his life, except for Summer of course. Holding the baby in his arms turned out to be the most fantastic feeling he had ever had.

Summer was still sleeping from the narcosis she had been in, and Seth knew that he would not leave her side until she woke up. He could not believe the ups and downs his feelings had been in all day. First the excitement that Summer had gone into labor and that their baby would be born soon, then the fear of losing Summer and the baby, then the terrible waiting time until the operation was finished, then the unbelievable feelings of happiness he had right now. Just thinking of the day made him exhausted.

A soft knock on the door brought Kirsten and Sandy in the room. Both smiled happily and went over to Seth on tiptoes. Seth stood up and held the baby towards them, prouder than he had ever been before.

The three of them walked over the window and started to whisper because they didn't want to wake Summer.  
Kirsten sighed happily and had to fight tears of joy. She took the baby from Seth and watched it, a dreamy look on her face. "Seth, he's so beautiful." she said, rocking the little baby softly back and forth.  
Sandy wore a bride grin on his face. "He looks exactly like you when you were a baby." he said.  
Kirsten shook her head, her eyes never leaving her first grandson. "I don't think that I'm old enough to be a double grandma." she said and laughed.

Seth smiled as he watched his parents. He had never seen them so upset, but in a positive way. Especially his mother seemed to be totally amazed by the little boy and he could see how the wheels in his father's head were turning as he thought about all the things he would do with his grandson in the future.

Kirsten looked over to Summer, who was still asleep.  
"Has she woken up yet?" she asked.  
Seth sighed and shook his head. "Not yet." he replied. "But the nurse said it can't take too long now."

Just as if she had heard, Summer groaned and turned her head. When Kirsten and Sandy realized that their daughter-in-law was about to wake up, they quickly handed the baby over to Seth and left the room.

Seth put up a huge smile as he went over to Summer's bed. He couldn't wait for his wife to see what a wonderful thing her body had been growing over the past months.  
He sat down on the chair again and watched Summer's face.

When her eyelids flickered open, she focused Seth.  
The same smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Even though Summer looked terribly exhausted, she was still the most beautiful woman to him.

Summer frowned as Seth leant back.  
"How are you?" Seth softly asked, stroking her hair with his free hand.  
Summer sighed and tried to sit up. On half the way, she felt an uncomfortable pain in her lower body and lied back down.  
"Fine, I guess. What's that pain?"  
"You passed out during labor, and the doctors had to make a Caesarian." Seth explained.

Summer frowned and looked around. All those things seemed so strange to her. She didn't really understand what was going on.  
"I was having a baby?" she asked. She spotted the tiny little bundle between Seth's arms and lifted her head to see it. "Is this it?"

Now Seth started to frown, too. Summer's reaction was not how he had imagined. But she had been going through so much over the past couple of hours, it was no surprise that she was a little confused right now.  
Seth put up a smile and held the baby up so Summer could take a look at him.  
"Yeah. Say hi to our baby. A completely healthy baby boy." Seth said, watching his sleeping son dreamily.

Summer tried to sit up again, this time a little slower. She stared at the baby and back at Seth, her gaze seeming totally confused.  
"I don't quite get this…" she stuttered and pointed out to the baby. "This is my baby?"

If Seth had been trying to stay calm until now, he started to panick a little at that moment. He laid the baby in his crib and took Summer's hand. There was something strange going on. He looked her deep into the eyes.  
"It's our baby." He said and looked at her expectingly.

A huge pang of disappointment went through Seth's heart as Summer pulled her hand out of his grip.  
She frowned and moved away a little. "Look, I don't know what this is here, but…" she hesitated and looked at Seth intensively. She shook her head. "Do I know you?"

Seth felt his heart sinking. What was going on? His breathing became heavier and he started to knead his hands.  
He reached out for Summer's hand, but she just moved further away from him.  
"Don't you remember me anymore? I'm your husband!" Seth asked, desperate. Was he dreaming? Or was this nightmare reality?

Seth watched Summer's eyes widen from disbelievement. "My husband." She repeated the words with a sceptical look on her face. "You and I are married."

Seth shook his head and stood up. He brought his face closer to Summer's. "Yeah, we are. I'm Seth. We've made it from a High School love to husband and wife. We love each other!"

Seth's voice became louder as the adrenaline raced further through his veins.  
Summer pulled back, seeming scared. "Don't shout at me! How can we be married if I haven't seen you before?"

Totally confused, Seth ran his hands through his hair. He needed to get a doctor. There was something wrong happenening. He mumbled an "I'll be right back" to Summer and ran out of the room.

A doctor would know what to do.

* * *

Once again that day, Seth and his family were gathered around the doctor that had been with Summer while she had been in labor. Ryan and Marissa had been heading back home when they had heard that Summer and the baby were fine, only Kirsten and Sandy were still there. But right now, Seth didn't need any more people.

The doctor had been examining Summer thoroughly and was now telling the Cohen family the results.  
Seth nervously tapped with his foot on the ground, looking at the doctor expectingly. "So?" he asked.

The doctor cleared his throat. "It seems like your wife suffers from post traumatic amnesia. You see, her body was sent into a huge shock when she had the placenta ablation earlier today. Amnesias are typical consequences for physical shocks like these."

Seth shook his head. "So you wanna say that my wife won't remember anything?"  
"There are very different kinds of amnesia. Some patients only lack memories of certain parts of their lives, and some lack all of their memories." He paused and looked at Seth, who was staring helplessly at him.  
"Unfortunately, your wife lacks all of her memories. She has even forgotten who she is."

The news hit Seth like someone had driven a knife right through his heart. He cleared his throat, fighting tears. "And will she ever be able to remember evyerthing again?" he asked.

The doctor sighed. "I can't tell you. Many of our patients regain all of their memories, and some don't. I guess that depends on if your wife's a fighter."  
Seth nodded and sighed. He felt his mother's hand on his shoulder.  
"I already told you today," Kirsten said, trying to comfort her son. "Summer is a fighter."  
"Everyhting's gonna be fine, you'll see." Sandy added.

Seth just nodded and stared at the door behind which Summer was lying. Or at least her body.  
He knew that his parents only wanted to comfort him.

But right now, it didn't seem like everything would be fine again.

_Next chapter: Traces Of Sadness_


	7. Traces Of Sadness

_Hi everyone!_

_Thanks so much for your awesome reviews! I really appreciate that you like my story so much!_

_Here's the new chapter, and if you like it (or not ;)) please review:)_

_Love, Steffi_

**Traces Of Sadness**

"So, come in." Seth said while he held the front door of their apartment open for Summer who held the baby in her arms. "This is our home."

Summer examined the living room that laid ahead of her. She carefully looked around, trying to remember anything. But her mind remained blank. It felt like she had never been here before.

Seth noticed that Summer was totally lost in thought and took the baby out of her arms.

"Why don't you make yourself comfortable, I'll put this little boy here to sleep." He said, gesturing for Summer to sit on the couch.

Summer nodded and slowly entered the living room. It was a really beautiful, sunny place with cream colored sofas, huge windows that went from the floor to the ceiling, and a whole shelf with millions of technical stuff like CD players, Playstations and a huge flat screen tv.

And the view of the town was just breathtaking.

Carefully, as if she was afraid to destroy something, Summer went over to the windows to look out. When she passed the book shelf that was situated near the windows, she remarked a picture.

It showed her in a beautiful white wedding dress as she leant into Seth's arms and gave the photographer the sweetest smile anyone could imagine. She traced the picture with her finger.

So she was really married to this Seth guy. The two people looked so much in love on the photo, it brought tears to her eyes.

Fear came up in her as she looked around the living room once again. What the hell was this place?

Summer's breathing became heavier as she started to walk around, this time into the kitchen. The back door led to a huge balcony that gave an amazing view over the beach. The sun was already setting in the sky, and Summer stepped out on the balcony, letting the warm Californian spring breeze blow through her hair.

"Here you are!" Seth's voice interrupted her thinking. He went over to her and closely examined her face. "Are you okay?" he asked and put a hand on her shoulder.

Summer shifted uncomfortably. Even though she knew that Seth and her were married, he was still a complete stranger to her, and his touch made her feel a little uneasy.

Seth noticed her reaction and put his hand away, giving her a warm smile. "I'm sorry." He said.

Summer sighed and nodded. "It's okay, I guess." She paused and stared into the distance. "I've seen the wedding picture in the living room."

Seth's face lightened up. "You remember the day? It was like the most perfect day of my life. And you were crying so much, I almost got the feeling you were crying cuz you didn't wanna be with me." He laughed.

A sad smile crossed Summer's face. "No, I don't remember it. I don't remember anyhting. Of this apartment, of my… our life. Or this breathtaking view… do we spend a lot of time out here?"

Seth shrugged. "Not much really. We're both working. We'll, since you've been pregnant, only I was working…" he stopped when he saw that Summer's gaze darkened further on.

"I'm so scared." She whispered. "I mean, I even forgot that the baby in there was mine… ours."

Seth laid his hand on her shoulder again. This time, Summer didn't refuse the touch. "You know all the important things for now. The rest will come when time wants it to."

Summer sighed. She frowned and turned to face Seth. "I'm pretty tired. And the Caesarian's scar hurts. I'll get some sleep." She announced and bounced off into the apartment again.

Seth closed his eyes for a while to relax a bit. It was so incredibly hard to be so positive all the time when all he wanted to do was be desperate and sad. But he couldn't be weak now. Summer and their son needed him. The doctor had told him to treat her as normal as possible, talk to her like everything was ok.

The love for Summer was still incredibly strong inside of him. But with this Summer at his side, he felt like living with somebody totally strange.

Maybe that was the way Summer felt all the time these days.

A bounce woke Seth up from his daydreaming. He saw how Summer walked around the living room in search for the sleeping room's door.

"It's the door to your left, Summer!" he shouted.

Summer didn't react.

Seth sighed. "Summer!"

Again no reaction.

"Hey you, with the dark ponytail!"

Summer looked up at him and frowned.

"The door to your left." Seth repeated.

Summer smiled and nodded, disappearing into the sleeping room

Seth sighed heavily as she was gone.

How was this gonna be going on?

* * *

Was there someone crying? Summer sighed as some before unheard sounds woke her up from her sleep.

She felt how Seth on the other side of the bed started to move, too.

But before she could even react, Seth was already on his feet, proceeding for the door.

Summer sat up. "Is that he baby?" she asked drowsily.

In the dark, she saw how Seth nodded. "Yeah. It's ok, I'll handle it. Go back to sleep."

Seth carefully entered the baby's room. "Hey, who's crying so loud here?" he asked kindly, taking the baby out of his crib, rocking him in his arms. "Are you hungry? Or do you have other surprises for me?"

He smelled the baby's diaper. "Nope, smells like roses. So I guess it's the hunger then."

Seth kept talking to the baby as he gave him his bottle.

Just watching his son made him think of all the things Summer was missing without realizing. His heart became heavy again even though it was the best feeling in the world to hold his own baby in his arms, Seth felt kind of depressed. All those emotions seemed to be too much for him. And now that he had to handle two little children – the real baby and Summer – he felt the last of his strength slipping away.

Silent tears rolled down his cheeks as he watched his little son drinking his milk.

"What am I gonna do?" he asked the baby. "I know that your mommy needs my support, but it kills me that I can't help her. What are we gonna do?"

Even though the baby didn't respond, Seth felt better just talking about what was going on in his mind.

He was so concentrated on his little son that he didn't notice Summer standing in the doorway, watching him. When she had seen how Seth had started to cry, she felt her own tears forming inside of her.

He seemed so loveable – and she caused him so much trouble. And she knew that it was a terrible thing that she didn't have any feelings for any of the persons around her. Everyone cared so much for her, and all that she felt was fear.

But from what she was watching in the baby's room, Summer suddenly knew that if there was one person she could trust completely, it was Seth. She had to start all over again – but why not?

It would be worth it.

_Next chapter: A Life Torn Apart_


	8. A Life Torn Apart

_Hey everybody!_

_Ahh, such a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed! You are so nice to me, I really appreciate that you like my story so much! So the new chapter will deal a little more with Summer and the problems the loss of her memory bring..._

_If you read, please review, it means so much!_

_Enjoy, _

_Steffi_

_PS: I almost forgot: the baby doesn't have a name yet. It's gonna be explained later on why he doesn't have a name. So for now, he is still "Baby Cohen"._

**A Life Torn Apart**

"So this is where we're hanging out all the time?" Summer asked while Seth carefully guided her towards the diner at the pier. She pushed the baby's stroller in front of her. It had been almost a week now since she had been released out of the hospital, and Seth and her had spent almost all the time looking at photos to get some of Summer's memories back.

The young parents had also spent a lot of time with their newborn son. The more days passed, the more secure Summer felt in her old yet new environment. She even started to develop feelings for the little baby, because even though she didn't remember having it, that little boy was just too cute to not to be loved.

Her feelings for Seth weren't so clear unforunately. He was really caring and everything, but he seemed to pressure her a little too much from time to time. But he was still a loveable person and Summer felt totally safe when she was with him. Well, no surprise, Seth was the one person that carried all of her memories.

"Yup, this is it. The famous diner. Let's go inside, I bet Ryan and Marissa are there, too."  
Summer frowned and tried to einordnen Marissa and Ryan. "They're like… our best friends, right?"  
Seth nodded. "Yeah. Marissa and you have been best friends since… actually, I can't remember since when, you've just always been… and Ryan and I are brothers."  
"Oh yeah, the adopted brother and so on…" Summer replied. She couldn't remember all those things with her own memory, but Seth had told her all the facts and she had tried to learn them all by heart. At least she knew something about her life.

The two of them entered the diner, and Ryan waved at them.  
Seth guided Summer towards Ryan and Marissa, and they sat down.  
Marissa smiled nicely at Summer. "Hey Sum, you look great." She said, seeming pretty unsure.  
Summer smiled as well and sighed. "Thanks. You too." She added, without knowing why.

An awkward silence filled the table. The two babies were lying peacefully sleeping in their strollers next to their mothers, and everyone watched them to avoid this embarrassing situation.  
Seth pointed out to baby Lila. "She's growing so fast, I swear last week she wasn't that tall." He said.  
Ryan smiled. "Yeah, we kinda got the feeling, too. We're buying new clothes and stuff like every week."

Marissa peeked into baby Cohen's little stroller and watched him. "And that little boy here…" she said, looking at Summer, "looks just like you, Sum. Incredible."  
Summer felt how she became nervous. She smiled nicely at Marissa and nodded, but on the inside, she felt like screaming. Everyone at this table seemed to be knowing her better than she knew herself. And that made her sick.

"You know, maybe the two of them are gonna date when they're grown up." Ryan said, smiling at the very thought of it. "Yeah, and marry and have children of their own." Seth added.  
Marissa shook her head and laughed. "Do you know how disgusting that would be? I mean, you're not related through blood, but the two of them are still cousins."  
The two boys frowned at her.  
Marissa shrugged. "What? I think it's disgusting."

Ryan took a deep breath. "It can't be more disgusting to date your cousin than being together with a freak like Luke." he said and smiled broadly.  
Marissa punched her boyfriend in the ribs. "Hey, what was so wrong about Luke?"  
"No one could be worse than Taylor Townsend…" Seth added and grinned. The three of them laughed and didn't notice that Summer hadn't said a word in a long time. She just sat at the table as if she didn't exist, feeling totally alone.

Her friends – at least everybody told her they were – were making jokes about past experiences she didn't remember about. There were two babies lying next to her she never knew that existed. The arm of a nice, but totally strange man who was said to be her husband was around her shoulders… and all that she knew was that her mind had been completely erased.

"Hey Sum, do you remember the time when Taylor tried to take my position as social chair and you fought her so long until she finally left?" Marissa asked.

Summer swallowed hard and shook her head. "No." she plainly answered.  
"Oh. I'm sorry, I forgot that..." Marissa answered guilty.  
Summer's heart pounded heavier now. "Well, at least you know now how it feels to have forgotten everything. How it feels to sit here between you strangers and laugh about things that I've never heard before. And cursing yourself at the same time why in all world your stupid mind won't just work again!"  
She stood up and pushed the baby's stroller away to find a way out. "Will you excuse me, I have to go…" Before any of the friends could react, Summer was already out of the building.

* * *

The ocean was something you could never forget. It was so mighty and yet so soft, with its curly waves steadily rolling in and out and with its salty breeze that made you feel so good. The tides changed always in time. The ocean seemed like the only thing that was always memorable. 

Summer stood at the pier and stared out at the water. She knew she loved the ocean, but given its amazing beauty, who wouldn't?  
In her mind, she saw the faces of the people that had been sitting with her in the diner. She linked the names she had learned with their faces, trying to flame some – no, any – memory that was hidden inside of her.  
But like so many times before, she failed.

Marissa was her best friend. She seemed to be really nice, but right now, Summer didn't care about that. All that she wanted was to gain some of her memory back. She couldn't even remember being married or pregnant, and it had taken her almost a day to memorize her own name.

Tears of desperation came up inside of her. What if she would never remember anything from her past? She had a brand new life without knowing it. But she would never be the same for her friends and her family, because she wasn't the old Summer Cohen. Tears rolled down her cheeks. The wind blew into her face, and with all her might she yelled, "Why are you doing this to me?"

People on the pier stood and looked at her confused, but Summer didn't care. She didn't know any of them anyway. "Why does this happen to me?" she shouted against the wind, letting all of her emotions run free.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms around her waist, gripping her tight. She spun around to see who it was, and when she realized that it was Seth who held her, she threw herself into his arms and cried.

Seth was surprised that Summer all of a sudden showed so much affection for him, but he was also glad that she did. Maybe this was a step further. "I'm always here, whether you want me to or not." He whispered and stroked her hair.  
Summer sniffed. "I hope so…" she said and looked up at him. "Cuz I need you. You carry all my memories in you."  
Seth smiled and wiped away Summer's tears. "We're gonna figure this out together." He said. "I promise."

Suddenly, Summer understood why she was married to Seth. She had never met such a loveable and caring person in her whole life.

But what did that mean, given the fact that she didn't remember her life?

_Next chapter: Lost Without You_


	9. Lost Without You

_New chapter up today!_

_The plot thickens…another tragedy that leads to the main plot…_

_I hope you like the story, and if you read, please review!_

_Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed so far, please keep on doing this ;)!_

_Steffi :)_

**Lost Without You**

The next two weeks, Summer and Seth spent almost every single minute together. Summer didn't know much, but she knew that she was totally dependent on Seth. If anyone would have asked her for her address or telephone number, she would have to ask Seth first to check.

But since she always was with Seth, that was not a problem.

Seth had been taking off some weeks at work just to be there for Summer. He couldn't leave her alone with the baby and this new situation. He knew he needed to be there for her, and he wanted to. Maybe his love would bring Summer back to him.

One day, the little family went out to do grocery shopping. Seth hated to shop for groceries, but he left nothing untried to get Summer's memory back. He figured that the surroundings of the grocery store would help.

Seth pushed the shopping cart with the baby in it in front of him, dragging Summer behind. She kept looking around for anything familiar and became frustrated when there was nothing.

As the cashier told the sum that had to be paid, Seth took out the wallet he had in his jeans pocket and frowned. He smiled excusingly at the cashier. "This is embarrassing…" he mumbled. "I don't have that much."

He turned to Summer. "Could you get the money I've left in the glove compartment out of the car?" he asked and handed her the keys.

Summer hesitated to take them at first. "You really think I should get it?"

Seth nodded. "Of course. You know our car, don't you?"

Summer nodded slowly. "The black Range Rover, right?"

"Exactly." Seth smiled and gave Summer a quick kiss on the lips. "You can do that."

Smiling back, Summer left the store.

Seth stepped aside for the next customer, waiting for Summer to bring more money.

* * *

Just when Summer had taken the money out of the car, she felt the earth beginning to tremble. Slightly at first, but becoming heavier by every second that passed. She heard some women around her screaming, and when she realized that an earthquake was hitting Newport Beach, she started to panic.

Summer had always been afraid of earthquakes, and now she was completely alone. She felt how the concrete under her feet trembled heavily, and how the glass of the grocery store was shattered. Out of a reflex, she started to run, run away from the parking lot, towards the park she spotted behind it.

She breathed heavily as the awful noises around her increased. The shockwaves sent Summer down to her knees.

Totally stricken by fear, Summer curled up and just sat in the middle of the park and wished for this nightmare to end, crying like a baby. Nothing was more terrible than earthquakes, but was much more terrible was to live through them alone.

* * *

When the earthquake started, Seth quickly reacted and grabbed his baby out of the shopping cart. He ran out of the store, just before the glass doors cracked down. Seth pressed the little baby that had started to cry now tight to his chest and curled up on the parking lot, trying to stay away from the building as far as possible.

The terrible noises around him made Seth almost go crazy. He tried to save his child, but right now, he wasn't able to save his wife. All he could do now was to wait for the earthquake to end.

* * *

It seemed like an eternity until the terrible shockwaves finally ended. But when the roaring of the earth had stopped, Summer looked up and scanned her environment. People around her stood up on shaky legs and tried to find their friends or relatives.

Summer saw a young mother hugging her child closely and smiled to herself, even though she was still upset about what had just happened.

Knowing that your beloved ones were fine was the most important thing. Suddenly, Summer realized that she needed to find somebody too.

She got up on her feet and walked towards the grocery store on shaky legs. They would be waiting for her.

In the middle of her way, Summer stopped. She had absolutely no plan who would be waiting for her.

Was anybody at the store at all?

Had she even been to the store when the earthquake had started?

Fear rose inside of her, and Summer felt how panic seemed to lace up her chest. Her breathing became heavier as she desperately tried to remember who she had been with when the earthquake had started. But like so often these days, her mind was completely blank.

A young brunette woman recognized that Summer was some kind of lost and went up to her. She laid her hand on Summer's shoulder. "Can I help you dear?" the woman asked, smiling friendly.

Summer flinched from the woman and stared at her. Did she know her? Or was she really a complete stranger?

Even if she didn't remember it, Summer knew that through her entire life, she had never been so confused and scared.

Just when Summer was about to explain herself, a little boy came running up to the woman who had wanted to help her. "Mummy, Mummy!" he shouted, his eyes red from crying. The woman spun around and went on her knees, hugging her little son tight, tears of joy streaming down her own face.

When Summer watched that scenery, she smiled at first, but when she realized that she had no one, another panic attack rose in her. The only solution she had at that moment was to run as fast as possible. She didn't know where to, but her fear just kept her running, far away from the earthquake place, to the place she belonged.

If only she knew where that was.

When the woman looked up to where Summer had been standing before, she found no one. The only thing she could see was the figure of a young woman that ran as if being chased by the devil, her long brown hair flying behind her in the wind.

The little boy tugged at his mother's sleeve. "Mommy, where is the woman running?" he asked.

The woman frowned and shrugged. "I don't know honey. Maybe she's just scared."

The woman didn't know how right she was.

_Next chapter: Ghosts_


	10. Ghosts

_Thanks for the review! Please keep on reviewing!_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_Steffi_

**Ghosts **

San Diego – no.

Anaheim – no.

Riverside – no.

Chino – sounded familiar, but no.

Huntington Beach – maybe.

Summer stood at Newport Bus station, scanning the different buses that were standing there. The earthquake hadn't been too heavy, fortunately, and except some broken windows nothing major had happened, so just a few minutes after the quake, the daily life started again.

For a long time, Summer stood and watched the buses come and go, to all those different directions. She was still completely confused, and the only thing she knew was that she had to get back home as fast as possible. They would be worrying about her. Again, she didn't know who those "they" would be, but there had to be somebody, right?

Summer had worked out that plan that if she just watched the buses for a while, and the name of the town she had to go to was written on it, she would know.

And that's when she spotted the bus with the words "Huntington Beach" on it.

Summer's gaze lightened up. That was it. It just jumped back into her mind that she had been living in a town that was by the beach, so Huntington Beach had to be it. None of the other buses went to a town with a beach at the end of the name.

Never in a million years she would have considered that she already was in the town she lived, confused as she was right now. The shock her body had been in when the earthquake had hit the town hadn't been good for her memory. Another shock meant another protection reaction of her body, and that meant just more confusion for all of the memories she had learnt during the past few days.

Her mind was still fragile, and another major shock like this had these terrible consequences… Summer standing at a bus station in the town she lived all her life and being totally convinced she had to go elsewhere to find her home.

Maybe she should just try and find a police station to identify herself there, Summer thought.

"_Last call for bus number six to Huntington Beach, all passengers please proceed to bus number twelve. I repeat: last call for bus number six to Huntington Beach."_

Summer took a deep breath and walked up to the bus. In front of the door she paused and hesitated. What if she was doing the wrong thing? Wouldn't it be better to go to the police here?

"Miss, you wanna go to Huntington?" the driver angrily asked out of the bus. "The earthquake already delayed our departure, so if you could please join us in here, or step back…"

Summer shifted from one foot to the other. Huntington Beach. No. She could identify herself at the police station here as well, and they would help her to get home.

She gave the bus driver a weary smile and shook her head. "I guess I'll stay round here." She said.

The bus driver rolled his eyes. "Well then step back." He said, and after Summer did so, the driver shut the doors angrily.

Summer let out a huge sigh and looked around, quite confused. Now all she needed to do was go to the police station and identify herself there. They would bring her home safe. To whomever who waited there.

* * *

Seth looked up carefully to check on what had been happening during the earthquake. The baby in his arms was still crying heavily because he had sensed that something terrible and frightening had been going on around him. Seth got up and kissed the baby's little head to calm him.

"Shh. I'm here. Don't cry." he whispered softly and rocked his son in his arms while his gaze scanned the parking lot for Summer.

For a tiny moment, the baby's crying stopped. Seth smiled at him, even though he didn't feel like it. He looked up again and continued searching for Summer. Baby Cohen's crying started again.

Seth held his little son close to his chest to show him that he was there to protect him. "Don't cry. Daddy's here." he mumbled. "I'm here."

People on the parking lot all had gathered into different groups, each of them hugging their friends and relatives, being glad that nothing had happened during the earthquake.

Seth sighed heavily and continued searching for Summer. But he didn't spot her in the parking lot, so he broke into a run around the whole building. Summer couldn't be alone. She wouldn't know where she was or where she belonged. She would get totally lost, and he wouldn't be there to help her.

The thought of Summer straying around this place almost tore Seth's heart apart.

He just had to find her. The adrenaline poured through his veins when he ran around and searched for any signs of his beloved wife.

Suddenly, the same young woman that had wanted to help Summer just a few minutes before went up to Seth and asked him if she could help.

Seth nodded and kept looking around. "I-I'm searching for my wife…" he stammered, his breathing heavy from all the running, the baby still crying heartbreakingly in his arms.

"What does she look like?" the woman asked in a very soft voice.

Seth sighed out of desperation. "She has long dark brown hair, big brown eyes… she's very tiny, a very sweet face…"

The woman nodded. "I have just spoken to her a few minutes ago. She seemed pretty upset, and she ran away when I wanted to check on her again."

Seth let out a sarcastic laugh. "She ran away? What, you asked her if you could help, she seemed totally upset and you let her run away?" he asked reproachful.

The woman smiled sympathetically. "I understand that you're upset, but maybe you should just try and go home. I'm sure she's already there waiting for you."

Seth shook his head angrily, still rocking his crying son in his arms. "Yeah, if only she knew where that is…" he mumbled and strolled off, trying to find Summer.

"She ran to this direction, if that helps", the woman shouted and pointed towards the town center where Summer had been running to only a few minutes ago.

Seth nodded and ran for his car. He would be faster with it, and maybe he could find Summer before anything terrible happened to her.

He just had to find her.

* * *

A man with blonde hair hanging into his face leant onto a lantern at the side of the bus station, smoking a cigarette. Summer walked up to him and asked for the directions to the police station. The man gestured towards his left. "Way there. Just like five minutes away." he explained. Summer didn't notice the slimy smile he gave her when she turned her back on him.

She just nodded and started to walk. She needed to know where she belonged, now more than anytime before. The sun shone very hot on her head, and still she shivered from the shock her body was just recovering from. Rubbing her arms, Summer passed a diner with a huge hot chocolate advertisement in front of it.

And since she was feeling warm and cold at the same time, Summer decided to go in and grab a chocolate or coffee or something. She had like 50 dollars in her pocket, so why not have a drink? She felt exhausted, confused, alone and scared at the same time, and her nerves just longed for some chocolate to regain strength.

Inside the diner, Summer sat herself at one of the tables that showed out of the window and gave a beautiful view over the beach. Suddenly, a similar scene flashed through her mind. A broad beach that was naturally beautiful. She practically saw the sun setting on the horizon. And a tall guy with dark curls and cute dimples hugging her from behind. Where had she seen that scene before?

While she was so lost in thought, Summer didn't realize that a man was standing right next to her. It was the same man she had asked for the direction to the police station.

"Hey." the man said and smiled, his blue eyes flashing as he did so.

Summer jumped because she was shocked at first. She hadn't been prepared to be ripped out of her thoughts so rudely.

The man sat next to her. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, smiling.

Summer shook her head and motioned him to sit down. When she looked into his eyes, she was amazed by how blue they were. If she wouldn't know better, she would have thought that she knew them from somewehere. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember those eyes.

And then there was the question again, the question she had been tired of hearing the last couple of days, accompanied by a dirty grin.

"Don't you remember me anymore?"

_Next chapter: Missing You_


	11. Missing You

_Hey you guys! Thanks for your reviews!_

_RubyRoseTuesday: I know that he is annoying, but it's a sequel, I just had to write him in ;)_

_fighterdreamer: You're right, frequent reviews show the writer that one likes the story, so don't stop reviewing :)_

_To all of you: prepare yourself for some drama coming up, I promise it's gonna be suspenful in the next chapters… and please keep on reviwing, I appreciate that so much!_

_Steffi :)_

**Missing You**

Kirsten just put another can of coffee in the machine and watched how the brown liquid was brewed. On one arm, she held her little grandson and rocked him comfortingly. With a heavy heart, she watched the little face sleeping peacefully, not being aware of the tragedy that surrounded him.

Baby Cohen didn't have a name yet. Since the day of his son's birth, Seth had insisted on naming the child after Summer would regain her memory again. He wanted the baby to have a name both of the parents liked equally – and that could only work if Summer remembered what she liked and what she didn't. So until today, the baby's name was just "Baby Cohen".

It had taken Kirsten hours to get this little human being to sleep. All the panic, fear and angst that Seth went through seemed to have laid itself on the baby. He had been crying almost all day, but now finally, he had found some sleep. Kirsten carefully stroked the little one's head and took out the coffee can.

She went into the living room of Seth and Summer's apartment, where Seth was sitting on the couch, staring into distance.  
Kirsten handed her son a cup of coffee and sat down next to him. "Here, sweetie" she said in a warm voice.

Seth looked on the floor and took the cup. "Thanks." He whispered. "What takes Dad so long?"  
Kirsten laid a hand on her son's shoulder. "I'm sure your Dad'll do the best he can to accelerate the investigations. We need to trust him on this. He'll handle it."

Just after Seth had spent almost the whole afternoon on searching for Summer, he had called his parents for help. After millions of years from being a public defender, Sandy had the best contacts to the officers at the police station. Just after Seth had browsed his parents the news about Summer's missing, Sandy had left for the police station to accelerate the search for Summer.

Seth just nodded and kept on staring to the ground.  
Kirsten sighed. She had never seen her son like this. So desperate, helpless and confused at the same time. Ever since his son was born, Seth seemed to have changed so much. But given everything that had been coming crushing down on him, she couldn't blame him. "They'll find Summer sooner than you think." She reassured her son.

Again Kirsten earned just a nod.  
The baby in her arms started to whimper. Seth looked up and stroked the baby's face with his finger. "I know you're upset" he whispered. "I am, too."

Just when Kirsten was about to give Seth the baby, the telephone rang.  
Seth jumped up immediately and got it. "Hello?…. Dad?… what's going on?…"  
Very anxious, Kirsten watched Seth's expression to read anything from it. But Seth's face remained blank.  
"How can I help?… but Dad, I want to! You can't make me sitting here doing nothing!… Yeah… yeah, sure. Bye."  
Seth hung up and sighed.

Kirsten looked at him expectingly. "What did he say?" she asked.  
Seth sighed again and sat down next to his mother. "They are searching for her in the whole town. They're putting up missing pictures and ask for help on the radio. He said that all we can do now is wait."

Now it was Kirsten's turn to sigh. "That's good." She said and stroked her son's arm. "She'll be back home in no time."  
"Yeah." Seth whispered and slumped against the pillows of the couch. "You know, Mom, I'm really exhausted, so maybe…"  
"I get it." Kirsten answered and smiled warmly. She handed Seth the baby and gave both of them a kiss on the forehead. "Try and get some sleep. I'll be stopping by in the morning."

"Thanks, Mom." Seth said, the desperate look on his face almost breaking Kirsten's heart. Even if she knew that he wouldn't get any sleep tonight, she knew her son well enough to see that he needed to be alone right now.  
"That's what I'm here for." She replied.

Giving her two boys a warm smile, she closed the door behind her, leaving Seth and his son alone.

* * *

"And I used to live here?" Summer asked sceptically as she stepped into a dirty and smoky little living room that had only one window. You couldn't see out of it. Half of the window was covered with wood, half of it was so dirty the setting sun had problems to shine in. 

The guy from the diner smiled dirtily. "Sure." He answered. "We don't have much money, but we love each other, and that's what's important."  
Never in a million years he would have thought that it would be so easy to get Summer back.

Good thing that she liked to talk, most of the time about herself. After he had discovered that Summer didn't have much to talk about, since the only thing she remembered was the she didn't remember anything, not even her friends, relatives or, most of all, her husband, it had been so damn easy to convince her that she was married with him, and that she loved him.

Eric Foster threw his shoes into one corner of the tiny room and motioned Summer to sit down on the half torn, bad smelling couch.  
Summer frowned. "You know, I can't believe that I would like it at a place like this." She said, still sceptical. "I mean, everything in here is so... ew!"

Eric laughed. "But you do. Join me here, darlin'." He patted on the seat next to him with his hand.  
Summer hesitated, but sat next to Eric. She looked around. "And… what are we doing for a living? I mean, this place doesn't look like Buckingham Palace or something…"

Eric stroked Summer's face with his finger. How soft her skin felt, even after those two years. He considered himself the luckiest man on earth right now. Not only it had worked out for him to break out of jail two years before his duty ran out, he had also won his Summer back. And she didn't even fight it.

Summer felt a strange shiver running up and down her spine as Eric touched her. His hands were cold and smelled like cigarette smoke. When he smiled, his teeth shone in a bright yellow. But still, the sparkle in his eye, his charming manners and everything he knew about her had made Summer trust him - once again.

"I'm glad you're back after all this time." Eric whispered.  
Summer nodded. "Have I been away for long?" she asked.  
"It felt like two years." Eric answered and smiled at her, his eyes sparkling.  
Summer smiled too. "Well, then it's good to be home, I guess."

If only she knew how much danger she was in.

* * *

He looked so much like Summer.  
Seth stroked his son's head, sitting at his crib and watching him. It was way after midnight, but Seth found it impossible to get some sleep. He was too upset to rest. 

Seth propped his head on the edge of the crib and sighed. "You know," he said, talking to the sleeping baby, "I wonder where your mommy is now."  
A sad smile crossed his face. "I guess you want to be with her, too."

Seth's gaze wandered over to a picture that stood on the baby's changing table. It was illuminated by the moonlight and showed Summer, seven months pregnant, and him, laughing and laying their arms around each other.

Seth remembered the day as if it had been yesterday. They had a picknick by the beach to celebrate their third wedding anniversary. They always did that at their anniversaries.  
Marissa and Ryan had put up a huge woollen blanket and decorated it with candles and roses. It was the most romantic scenery anyone could have imagined.

The memory of that day was interrupted by a soft whimper from the baby. Seth sighed and stroked his son's head again. "Bad dreams?" he softly asked.

Even if the baby was with him, and everybody wanted to help, Seth had never felt so alone in his whole life.

He took the baby out of his crib and carried him over to the window, staring out at the ocean and how its waves kept rolling in and out steadily. He watched Baby Cohen's cute little face turning into a sweet smile that made him smile too.  
"I need you so much, do you know that?" he whispered, fighting tears.  
"With you, at least a part of your mommy is with me."

Seth softly kissed Baby Cohen's head. "I love you so much." He said, almost unhearable.  
He carefully laid the baby in his crib again and left the room.

He needed to get some rest.

It was the least he could do for his son.

_Next chapter: If Only_


	12. If Only

_Hi everybody!_

_Today I'm gonna post an inbetween chapter. It's not as exciting as the ones that are about to follow, but it is needed to built up more suspense…_

_Thanks everyone for your lovely reviews! Please feel free to review again :)_

_Love,_

_Steffi_

**If Only**

"The plan for today is easy," Eric said, cracking with his fingers.

The mere sound of it sent shivers down Summer's back. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah?"

Eric pointed around the dirty room. "Clean up in here, I have some business to do. When I come home, I want a good meal. You'll find everything you need in the kitchen."

Summer nodded. She couldn't help herself, but this whole situation felt strange to her. Since she had come home last night, Eric had nothing but commands for her. She practically sensed that something wrong was going on, she just couldn't tell what it was.

Eric spit out some of the tobacco he was chewing. "That's pretty much everything. The only thing you need to remember is…" he walked up to Summer and took her chin into his hands, squeezing it tightly. "… don't leave the house. No matter what happens, don't – leave – the – house."

The intensity in Eric's voice made Summer shiver. She didn't dare asking why she wasn't supposed to leave the house. She decided that it would be better just to do what this Eric guy wanted from her. "Right." She whispered and ran a hand through her hair insecurily.

Eric smiled broadly. "Good." He said and kissed her on the cheek with a loud smack.

Summer managed a smile and looked Eric in the eyes. There was something about them that made her doubt that she was in the right place here. But this Eric seemed to know so much about her, and who else would know all that stuff than someone who had lived with her?

Eric took his hat from the kitchen table and waved. "I'll be back soon. Remember my meal." Before Summer could reply, the front door was slammed shut.

For a few moments, Summer stood in the middle of the kitchen combined living room and tried to figure out where she was and what she was doing here. She looked around the tiny and dirty room. The furniture was worn down and it smelled terribly. She didn't remember where she was from and if she had lived here before, but she was somewhat sure that she possibly couldn't have been. She didn't like the place at all.

Summer took a few steps towards the window. Eric had wanted her to clean up, and that contained bringing some fresh air into the room, right? She traced the wood pieces that covered half of the small window and tried to peek out of it. It was a sunny day, and she could see people with their surfboards walking around the beach that was in front of the house.

She smiled as she saw a mother and her little child who walked towards her on shaky legs. Summer smiled to herself as she pictured herself as a mother. From the happy look on the woman's face she figured that it was be the best feeling in the world to be a mother.

Just like out of an instinct, Summer's hand moved down on her stomach. It wasn't as taut as you might guess, regarding the rest of her figure, and it was also a little swollen. Just as if…

Suddenly, an image flashed through Summer's mind. She saw herself standing in front of a huge mirror, wearing a pink overall that was filled by a huge baby belly. Someone was standing behind her, telling her she looked terribly cute. She saw how she answered with an unnerved "I'm fat like a ton". And as fast as the image had appeared in Summer's mind, it went away.

Her hand that was still lying on her stomach formed into a fist. Had she been pregnant?

Summer felt her breathing becoming heavier as she concentrated highly on what she had been seeing in her inner eye a few seconds before.

Desperately, she tried to get the memory back, but without success. Summer felt tears coming up inside of her. Never before she had been so close to her past than right now, and before she could recognize something or someone, the flashback had been over.

Silent tears came falling down Summer's face. For a few moments, she just stood in front of the window and felt sorry for herself and her lack of memories. Then she decided she needed to stop crying and therefore needed some fresh air.

Summer traced the frame of the window with her finger and realized that there was no opener on it. She frowned and headed over to the door. Eric might have forbidden her to leave the house, but she could at least open the door to let some air in. When she turned the doorknob, Summer's heart stopped for a moment. It was locked.

Eric hadn't only forbidden her to leave the house, he had also locked her in this nightmare of an apartment.

Desperately, Summer turned the doorknob so heavily until her hand ached.

Hot tears streamt down her face as she realized that she was trapped.

Summer leant against the door and sobbed uncontrollably.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

"There are posters of her hanging all around Newport Beach right now. And our colleagues are still interviewing people if they saw your wife after the earthquake." Officer Flannery said while taking a huge bite of his chocolate doughnut.

Seth and his parents were in Daniel Flannery's office, the head officer that was in charge for everybody who was involved in the "Find Summer Cohen" case.

While he still chewed, the big guy took a sip from his coffee. "All we can do now is wait." He said and looked at the three Cohens excusingly.

Seth shook his head and slammed a fist on the officer's desk. "That's what we've heard over the past 48 hours." He said through gritted teeth. "But there still is no sign of her. Don't you think you're doing something wrong?"

Kirsten took her son's hand in hers and tried to calm him down. "Sweetie, you've heard the officer, they're trying their best…"

"Come on mom!" Seth yelled. "If the only thing they can do is to rankle one doughnut after the other and pouring tons of coffee into them and telling us that we should just wait then they're useless!"

He stood up and brought his face near to officer Flannery's. "My wife has no idea who or where she is. She might get into the hands of any randsom criminal who could do God knows what to her!" he said, his voice shaking. "And if all you can do is hang up some stupid posters, I think it's better if I go search for her myself!"

"Seth, calm down…" Sandy tried to pace his son.

"Oh no, dad, I won't. It's my wife we're talking about here. If it was mom you'd react the same."

Sandy knew that his son was right and stared onto the ground instead of replying anything else.

Officer Flannery swallowed and took a deep breath. "Mr Cohen, I know you're upset, but…"

"Officer Flannery!" The voice of Daniel Flannery's secretary filled the room and interrupted him from answering. Seth turned around to face the blonde woman who held up a piece of paper.

"What is it, Grace? I have some important business to do here." Officer Flannery replied unnerved.

The secretary walked over to the officer's desk and placed the piece of paper on his desk. "There's someone who might have seen Mrs Cohen the day she disapeared." She said.

Seth laughed. "A lot of people have seen Summer the day she disappeared."

The secretary put her hands onto her hips and raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, but this guy here saw her **after** the earthquake and not near the grocery store."

Kirsten and Sandy sat up straight and Seth felt his heart beating faster at these news.

Officer Flannery smiled. Finally there was some progress going on in this case.

The secretary went on. "His name's Phil Higgins. He's a bus driver here in Newport."

A little smile of hope crossed Seth's face.

He grabbed his jacket and ran out of the office. "Let's go and find this guy!" he yelled on his way out.

* * *

"Phil Higgins? I'm Officer Daniel Flannery from the Newport Police Department." Officer Flannery talked to a still shut door in a very run down apartment building in the town center of Newport Beach.

As Seth scanned the interior of the building, he couldn't believe he was still in Newport, regarding how run down the house was. But it didn't matter where he needed to go or what he needed to do, for Summer he would have done everything.

But he was also glad that his little baby was staying with Ryan and Marissa for today. Never in a million years he would have dared to bring him here.

An image of Summer came into Seth's mind. He saw her sweet face laughing and her wonderful dark eyes sparkling. The mere thought of Summer and where she might be right now made his heart ache so bad it almost took him the air to breathe.

Seth's thoughts were interrupted by a not very slim man in his underpants, smoking a huge cigar and looking very disturbed. "Police?" The man asked. "What have I done?"

Daniel Flannery still held up his police badge. With his other hand, he pulled out a photo that showed Summer sitting on the beach and staring into the distance, her cheeks glowing and a slight smile crossing her face. It was one of Seth's favorite pictures of her. The photo had also been put up on the posters that were hanging in the community.

Seth had figured that if Summer would see herself there, she would know where to go. But as things seemed right now, Summer didn't recognize herself.

"You told my colleagues that you have seen this woman two days ago?" Officer Flannery asked.

Phil's eyebrows went up. "She looks really pretty, dat girl." He said and blew out a cloud of steam.

Officer Flannery tapped with his foot on the ground. "And have you seen her or not?" he asked impatiently.

Phil inhaled once again and blew out the smoke directly into the officer's face. "Yeah, I did. Drove down to Huntington after the quake. She wasn't sure to get on the bus or not."

"And did she take the bus?" Officer Flannery asked.

Phil shook his head. "Nah. Stayed here. Asked some man for some directions, I guess."

Officer Flannery took out his little notepadto make notes. This sounded interesting.

Seth stood behind Officer Flannery and kneaded his hands. He was so tense he couldn't speak. This man really seemed to know where Summer had gone that fateful day.

"Could you tell us how the man looked like?" Officer Flannery asked and started to scribble down things on his notepad.

Phil shrugged. "Blonde, tall. Didn't see it from the distance." He replied.

Officer Flannery sighed and nodded. "Well, thanks nevertheless. That really helped."

Phil Higgins nodded and shut his door without any further comment.

Seth sighed. That hadn't helped as much as he might have thought.

In fact, it hadn't helped at all.

But at least they knew now that Summer was still in Newport Beach.

They had to continue searching.

_Next chapter: Traces Of Sadness_


	13. Pieces Of A Dream

_Hey everyone!_

_The pre-climax chapter is up today! I hope you like it, this one and the two that are about to follow are the most important chapters in the whole story for me..._

_I'm a little sad that reviews have become a little less these days, I hope you guys still like the story.. so if you read the new chapter, feel free to review, I'd really like that... ;)_

_Steffi_

**Pieces Of A Dream**

The search continued feverishly that day. Most of the time, Seth and Officer Flannery spent at Newport bus station, interviewing almost everybody there.

Kirsten and Sandy had been going home to watch Baby Cohen for the evening after Seth had confirmed that he would be ok on his own.

After hours and hours of an exhausting search, Seth and Officer Flannery felt the urge for some coffee. There was a diner right next to the bus station were they decided to take their break as Flannery's colleagues from the police kept on searching for Summer.

Officer Flannery laid the picture of Summer in front of him and smiled at the image. Seth frowned as he saw that. "She looks really happy on that picture," Flannery said and played with the menue between his fingers. Seth nodded sadly. "She was. We were. We had just been shopping for our first baby clothes before I made this photo." The memory of those happy days made him ache.

Flannery nodded. "You have a son, haven't you?"  
Seth bit his lip. "Yeah." He said. A smile crossed his face as the image of the sweet little baby boy he loved more than anything came to his mind.

Before Flannery could ask any more questions, the waitress came up to them, chewing a bubble gum and seeming pretty bored. "Hey guys, what can I bring you?" she asked and was about to pull out her notepad when she spotted the picture of Summer on the table.

"Hey, that girl looks better on that picture than she did a few days ago when she was here." The waitress said almost absent-mindly. Seth and Flannery looked up at the same time, both their gazes tense.

Seth made a fist. "She was here?" he asked and got half up. "When was that?"  
The waitress shrugged. "Dunno. After the quake, I guess."  
Seth knelt down on the chair he was supposed to be sitting on, his heart beating faster. "Was somebody with her?" he asked.

Flannery watched the scenery with an open mouth before he pulled out his notepad and scribbled down what the waitress was telling them.

The waitress frowned and thought for a moment. "Yeah, some guy was with her. He acted really strange, as if he knew her." She said.  
After a few seconds, she added. "The woman seemed pretty confused. It almost seemed as if she didn't know who that guy was."

Now Officer Flannery got up from his seat, too. Both of the men were now uncomfortably close to the waitresse's face who raised an eyebrow. "Describe the guy." Flannery said and started scribbling on his notepad again.

The waitress shrugged. "Well…" she said and chewed her bubble gum only harder. "He was tall, blonde… wore kind of a strange grin all the time… oh, and he had those incredible blue eyes. They looked like they would want to pierce you if they could."

Suddenly, a very bad apprehension came up in Seth. He shook his head. That couldn't be possible. He was behind bars for at least two more years, he couldn't possibly have been here. Or had he been?

Seth grabbed Officer Flannery at his shoulders. "We need to make a call." He said and pulled Flannery out of the diner. "You need to check if some guy named Eric Foster is still in Newport State Prison."

Flannery seemed confused and stared at Seth.  
"JUST DO IT!" Seth urged and kneaded his hands as he watched Flannery dialing a number on his cell phone, his thougts racing like a rollercoaster inside of his head.

It couldn't be, could it? Eric couldn't have her, right?

Could fate be so cruel to bring Summer back into the arms of the most dangerous person in Newport?

* * *

Summer knew that she needed to hurry now. She didn't know why, but she was totally scared of this Eric guy since she found out that he had locked her in the tiny apartment. She had tried to clean up as best as she could without any cleaning agents. All that guy had left her was water, and how could a woman clean up a mess like this just with water?

Anxiously, Summer went over to the cooker and checked on the soup she was making for Eric. As she tasted it, she felt like vomiting. It tasted as terrible as the whole apartment smelled. But she couldn't help it now. It was too late to do something else.

Just in that moment, the front door was slammed open and Eric stood in it, looking very stressed and angry. Summer managed an insecure smile and offered Eric a seat at the kitchen table. "Hi, Eric." She whispered. "Take-take a seat."

Eric slammed the door shut behind him and threw his shoes on the floor, his gaze examining the room. One of his feet went up and down the floor, checking if it was clean enough. Summer bit her lip as she watched Eric standing there in silence.

She decided to serve Eric his food while he examined the room. With shaky hands, Summer put a plate of soup on the table and laid some old toast bread she had found in one of the cupboards next to it. A shiver went down her spine as Eric cleared his throat and went over to her.

He stared her with his eyes wide open, sending more and more shockwaves through Summer's body. "Could be better." He said and sat down. "Do it better tomorrow."

Summer nodded slowly and frowned. Maybe this guy wasn't as bad as he seemed. She went over to where Eric had left his shoes to put them to the other shoes in the closet when something hard hit her on the head.

Out of a reflex, Summer's hand went to the back of her head and she spun around to see that Eric had thrown a spoon at her. "What-"  
Summer didn't have the chance to ask her question because all of a sudden, the plate with the hot soup came flying towards her. Just because she jumped out of its way as fast as she could it didn't hit her.

"Eric, what-"  
"Shut up you bitch," Eric mumbled through gritted teeth and went over to her. He stood in front of Summer in all his height now and looked down on her with a gaze that was ready to kill. Summer's eyes widened in fear of what was about to happen. What had she done wrong?

"This soup smells like toilet water." Eric said and grabbed Summer by her shoulders. "Are you too stupid to cook some f soup?" Eric said, this time his voice becoming angrier than before. Shaking, Summer shook her head. "No, I-"  
"SHUT UP I SAID!" Eric shouted and lifted his right hand.

Summer watched in horror as Eric's hand came slamming down on her cheek, sending a wave of pain through her face. Why was this happening?  
Before she could further think about the events another slap on her face hit her, this time on the left cheek.

Summer's heart beated faster. That couldn't be happening. No man on earth would treat a woman he loved like Eric treated her now. She pressed her back against the wall, heavily scared. But before she could react any further, another hard and heavy slap landed across her cheek, again sending a flashing pain through her face. "You're too stupid for even cooking!" Eric shouted and pulled his hand back for another slap. "I bet you're little Seth doesn't make you cook, huh?"

Summer tried to cover her face with her hands, hot tears retaining in her eyes. Why did this man do this?  
Eric's fist hit Summer's left eye. Blood ran over it and Summer cried out from the pain.

Suddenly, it happened.

A shot of adrenaline flashed through her veins as a million pictures of long gone days came running through her inner eye.  
Her dead father lying in the hospital. The funeral. Those blue eyes. Cheating on Seth.  
Scars, bruises. A pregnancy test. Violence. Eric. Fear of death. The beatings. The miscarriage. The earthquake.  
Seth. The most vivid of all images that ran through Summer's head was the face of Seth, his freckles, dimples, dark curls and beautiful eyes… the baby. Her baby? THEIR baby!

What was she doing here? Why was she with Eric again? Her gaze wandered around and she felt herself panicking. She was trapped, with Eric, again.

Totally stricken by fear, Summer watched how Eric's hand rose in the air again, preparing itself for another slap across her face. "STOP IT!" she suddenly yelled, shielding her bleeding face with her arms.

A dirty grin crossed Eric's face. "What was that?" he asked and neared his face to Summer's. Summer started to tremble. She needed to be careful now, because otherwise…  
"Don't start it again, Eric." She whispered. "You could go to jail again."

A dirty laugh filled the room, and Eric cupped Summer's face in his raw and bad smelling hands. "You remember me! Sweet." He whispered and pressed a disgusting kiss on Summer's lips that seemed to last for an eternity.

When their lips parted, Summer gasped for air. She watched Eric desperately. "Please, let me go, Eric. Don't make the same mistakes again." She mumbled, trying the best to suppress her fear.

On the inside, Summer already prepared for another slap. But Eric pulled back and looked at her intensively. "You won't go anywhere." He said, his expression suddenly changing from angry to hurt. "You are supposed to be with me. Why did you marry that Cohen freak? Why did you do this to me?" he cried, falling on his knees in front of her.

Summer's breathing became faster every second. How come that Eric's mood changed so quickly? That was a side on him she didn't know yet. Her mind raced as she scanned the room for any opportunity to escape. The only way out was the huge door that Eric hand't locked when he had come in. But to get there, she needed to pass Eric first, and given the fact how scared she was, it was almost impossible to reach the door before Eric got her.

Summer knew that she couldn't escape in front of Eric's eyes. She needed to run away when he was gone, doing his so called business. The best thing right now was to play along. And even though it disgusted her at the time, she wiped the blood in her face away and knelt down besides Eric, who was still crying on the floor.

Nervously, Summer folded her hands. She swallowed hard and summoned all the strength she found in her for the words that were about to follow.  
"I won't leave you, Eric." She said, feeling like she was going to vomit any minute. "I'll stay here with you."

For a long time, Eric didn't say a word. His teary face just stared at Summer with those incredibly blue eyes. And all of a sudden, his face changed from hurt into violent again, just like a few minutes before. He took Summer's chin in his hand.

"You better will." Eric said and gave her a look from such a high intesity that Summer felt like bursting into tears right in front of his eyes again.  
"Or you'll pay for it."

_Next chapter: The Beginning Of The End_


	14. The Beginning Of The End

_Hey everybody!_

_Thanks a million for your awesome reviews! _

_Please don't stop reviewing, especially not now that we're nearing the climax of the story. I'm afraid I have to leave you with a major cliffhanger today, but I guess that just makes the story more suspenseful. _

_So I hope you like the new chapter, and I can't say it often enough, please review, it encourages me to write more :)_

_Steffi_

**The Beginning Of The End **

Summer didn't know how she had made it through the night, with the constant fear of Eric sleeping next to her.  
Her eyes were already extremely puffy and swollen, not only from crying almost all night, but also from the beatings she had suffered the day before.

It all seemed like a bad dream as Summer reflected about all the events that had brought her into this terrible situation. She had a baby she didn't know how it looked, and she had a husband who was probably freaking out completely right now because he couldn't find her.

Summer's mind had been rambling all night about how she could get herself out of this nightmare. Again. What did fate have against her that it always drove her in the arms of that violent man?

As the sun came up, Summer got up and tiptoed into the kitchen to pour Eric some coffee. She knew that Eric wanted his coffee when he got up. She had been living with him long enough.

Just a few seconds after Summer had gone into the kitchen, Eric came in, his look seeming only angrier than the evening before.  
"What'ya doin'?" he asked and scratched his stomach as he sat down at the kitchen table.  
Just like so many times before, Summer lowered her head as she replied. "I'm pouring you coffee."

Eric yawned.  
"No need to." He said and got up again.  
Summer frowned. "No?"  
"Need to go out. Do some business." Eric answered and went into the sleeping room.

Summer folded her arms in front of herself for some protection.  
With shaky hands, she poured herself some coffee. When Eric was going out, it was her time to get out of this hell. But she didn't have any idea how to do it.

Only a few seconds later, Eric came out of the sleeping room, this time dressed, and gave her a fat and smacking kiss on the lips, stroking her head as he kissed her.  
Summer swallowed and needed to gather herself so that she didn't have to throw up right into Eric's face.

"I'll be back soon." Eric said and headed over to the door. "Clean up, and prepare me a meal. One that tastes better than the one yesterday."  
Summer just nodded insecurily. She tried to be calm on the outside, but on the inside, she was a wreck. "Okay." She whispered.

Eric swung his coat around his shoulders and slammed the door shut behind him. What Eric didn't notice was that his cell phone had fallen out of his coat pocket as he had swung it around his shoulders.

Summer's eyes widened as she saw the key to her escape lying right in front of her eyes.  
She ran over to the cell phone and flipped it open, her gaze always wandering to the door to make sure that Eric wasn't coming back to get it.

With trembling fingers, Summer dialed the number of Seth's cell phone. She had memorized it years ago and now that she had all of her memory back again, it was no problem for her to dial it - never before remembering had felt more better.

With every second that passed, Summer's nerves weakened more and more. After three ringings that seemed to have taken an eternity, the voice she longed to be with right now so bad identified itself on the other end.

"Seth Cohen?"  
Summer's breathing was so heavy she almost couldn't speak.  
"Seth, it's me!" she cried, letting all of her desperation come out.  
"Summer?" Seth's voice sounded like a mixture of desperation, fear and happiness. Only from the sound of her name Summer could hear how much Seth must have missed her.

She also knew that she didn't have much time and decided to get straight to the point.  
"Eric has me." She whispered with fear in her voice.  
"Where are you?" Seth urged. His voice was full of panic at that moment, when he realized that his worst fears had come true.

Summer suppressed some sobs and ran over to the window, letting the door out of her sight. She peeked out of the window and saw the pier on the horizon.  
"I'm in a run down house at the beach, near the pier." She cried, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please, come and get me, I-"

The receiver fell out of Summer's hand as a firm hand gripped her arm and spun her around.  
Summer's breathing quickened as she saw an infuriated Eric standing in front of her, giving her a look that showed that he was ready to kill.  
With his free hand, Eric took up the receiver and laughed into it.  
"Say goodbye to your Summer, Cohen." He said, a dirty grin on his face. "You're never gonna see her again."

And with that, Eric flipped the cell phone shut.

* * *

Seth was on the verge of freaking out right now. Why in all world did a terrible thing like this happen?  
He had just come home from an exhausting all night search for Summer as she gave him that fateful call.

Within minutes, Officer Flannery and his colleagues had been coming over, Ryan and Marissa in tow.  
The group raced down to the pier, to search for the house Summer described.

Seth couldn't concentrate on anything else than wanting to kill Eric with his own hands, to make sure he would never harm a person again - especially not Summer.

It didn't take the group long to find the run down house at the beach. After all, they were still in Newport Beach, and every house that seemed to be a little run down caught someone's eye within seconds.

A few seconds after they had found the house, police cars surrounded it, Flannery talking to Eric through a speaker, trying to convince him to let Summer go.

* * *

Inside the house, Summer stood with her back pressed on the wall, her heart beating faster than it had ever beaten before. She could hear the police shouting orders at Eric who stood behind the window and looked down on them, an insane grin on his face.

Summer's breathing became faster as Eric turned towards her, pointing a gun directly to her chest.  
"You say a thing, and this little thing's gonna tear apart every bone in your body." Eric barked and spun around as Flannery started to talk through the megaphone.

Summer felt herself panicking, the adrenaline pouring through her veins. How could she get out of this nightmare? Eric had tied her to the shelf against the wall, and she wasn't able to move. She was definitely trapped now.

Tears of desperation crept up inside of her, but she tried to suppress them best as she could. She was afraid that her tears might show Eric how much power he still had over her.

"Mr Foster, please come out and talk to us. We can fix this." The officer's voice said in a calm tone.  
Eric let out a nervous laugh. "I have everything I want in here. And I'm sure she's everything you want."  
"Foster, let her go! I promise I'll come in and break every bone that's in your bloody body if you do anything to her!" Summer jumped as she heard this very familiar voice. It was Seth. She started to shake, her whole body aching to get out of this nightmare and run straight into Seth's arms.

Suddenly, one of the sobs she had tried to suppress escaped, drawing Eric's attention to her. He turned around and grinned at her, confident of his victory. He traced her cheek with one of his skinny hands, wiping away her tears. The mere touch of Eric's hand sent shivers up and down Summer's spine. Her whole body started to shake uncontrollably now, the fear of death crawling into every cell of it.

Eric kissed her on the lips and Summer felt like throwing up. She stared at Eric with her wide opened eyes, scared to an amount she had never been before.

"Mr Foster, this is your last chance! Let Summer go or we're forced to come in!" The police officer's voice ended the disgusting kiss abruptly.  
Eric gave Summer one more of his insane grins. "If I can't have you, nobody ever will." He said and stared at her intensively.  
Summer's breathing became heavier every minute, her fear not allowing her to react. She was frozen.

When Summer didn't react, Eric went over to the window and laughed out loud.  
"Try and get me…" he said in a low voice.  
Summer watched in horror how Eric pulled a lighter out of his pocket, holding the tiny flame up in the air. He gave her a grin, showing his yellowed teeth.

"You know how this ends." He said and knelt down, moving the flame of the lighter closer to the floor. "You've seen me spreading gas all over the whole house, haven't you? I just need to touch the ground and everything here will burst into flames, taking you and me with it."

Summer's tears were flooding like a river. She knew it was over. The minute Eric would touch the ground, the fire would spread immediately. She was going to die next to the man she hated the most.

Eric stared at her and smiled broadly. He stood up and walked towards her again. "Scared, huh?" he asked, again tracing her face with his forefinger. Summer shifted from left to right, trying to somehow escape this situation.  
Eric laughed again. "You don't need to be." He softly stroked the bruise he had given her the day before on her left cheek. "I know I made mistakes… but I'm just a man."

Summer continued to cry, images of her life flashing through her head. Most of the time she saw Seth's face, the face she loved so much. She saw the tiny hands of her sweet little baby, the baby she still didn't know how it looked, her apartment, her father, her parents-in-law, her friends. And the last face she would see in her life would be the face of the man she hated more than anything.

Suddenly, it just slipped out of her. "Eric, please, don't-"  
Eric raised his eyebrows. "You've found your speech again? So cute…" he kissed her again, Summer pressing her lips together as tight as she could, trying to refuse to the kiss.

Eric slowly pulled away and walked to the window.  
He stared down at the street where the cops were still standing, their guns pointed to the window he was standing in.

Eric let out a huge laugh again. "You're not going to get her!" he shouted. "No one ever will." He held up the flame of the lighter and moved it down towards the floor again.

Summer knew she had to react now. It was her last chance.  
"Seth, he's gonna burn the house! There's gas all over the place!" she screamed with all of her strength.

Eric spun around quickly. As he did, he dropped the lighter, the floor around him bursting into flames almost immediately.

Summer cried out for help, totally terrified of death now.  
"HELP! HELP ME!"  
A hand went over her mouth, stopping her SOS. The smoke in the room became thicker every second, and Eric, who now stood closer to her than ever before, stared at her intensively. "I told you, if I can't have you, no one ever will."

Summer tried to cough. The smoke took up almost all of the oxygen, and the hand over her mouth made it even harder to breathe.

Eric almost seemed to enjoy the terror in Summer's eyes when he saw how she fought to get some air. He laughed at her and coughed as well.

Summer couldn't breath anymore. The smoke was too thick, and Eric's hand tightened only more as it covered her mouth.  
"Say goodbye to the world, sweet Summer…" he mumbled, enjoying his victory.

They were the last words Summer heard.

And everything went black.

_Next chapter: Forever Gone_


	15. Forever Gone

_Hi everyone! _

_Thanks a million for your awesome reviews, seriously, you guys are the best!_

_And I apologize for leaving you with such a major cliffhanger, but I guess that's what keeps the suspense, doesn't it? ;)_

_So this is the penultimate chapter today, revealing the future._

_I hope you're gonna review again so I'll get over a hundred reviews! That would be great:)_

_But enough rambling for today, here's chapter 15!_

_Steffi_

**Forever Gone**

The moment Seth saw the flames lashing through the windows of the beach house, and the moment he heard Summer's cries, he lost his patience and started to run into the house.

Ryan reacted immediately and chased after Seth, trying to stop him. When he reached Seth, Ryan took hold of his shoulders and blocked his way.

"Don't go in there, it's suicide!" he shouted, trying to drown out the noise of the shattering windows and the sirens of the police and fire rescue cars that surrounded them.

Seth twisted in Ryan's grip, trying to break free. He felt tears coming up inside of him, the adrenaline pouring through his veins.

"Let go of me!" he screamed, still twisting and turning in Ryan's grip.

"You're not gonna survive this!" Ryan yelled.

Finally, Seth managed to break free of Ryan's grip and stared at him intensively. His breathing became heavier every second, his heart pounding heavily against his chest.

"So is Summer if nobody acts! So if you're my brother, you come and HELP ME!"

Seth didn't care what Ryan or anybody else thought, he just started to run towards the house again, trying to save the one and only love of his life.

Ryan stared after Seth for what seemed like an age, but broke into a run towards the house just a few seconds after Seth had.

So did the police officers who had witnessed the brotherly fight.

* * *

When they were inside, Seth pulled his sports vest over his mouth to shut away some of the smoke that was in the house.

Flames were all around him and he didn't know where to start searching first. And he knew that time was running out.

Followed by Ryan and two police officers, Seth made his way through the fire to the second floor where Eric's and Summer's voices had been coming from.

The heat was almost unbearable, and so was the smoke that blocked almost all of Seth's eyesight. He coughed and his eyes started to fill with tears, this time not because he was afraid of losing Summer, but because the smoke and the heat burnt so heavily.

But still the fear of losing Summer somehow gave him the strength to go on.

It might have been just plain luck regarding the huge amount of rooms that were in the house, but in the first room Seth went, he spotted his Summer, enarmored to the walls, her head slumped down and her hair covering most of her face. Seth ran into the room, knowing that every second now counted.

Summer's body was all sweaty, and her face looked terrible from all the bruises that were to be seen there.

Seth felt new tears coming up, and this time, it were tears of hatred and digust towards Eric.

As fast as he could, Seth tried to untie the laces that surrounded Summer's wrists and that tied her to the wall. But the knots Eric had made were too tight, he couldn't open them with his bare hands.

"Ryan, I need a knife!" Seth shouted, totally terrified. The flames grew thicker and more intensive from second to second, and the smoke kept eroding into his brain, taking away all of the oxygen he had just breathed in.

He felt himself passing out, but when another wave of adrenaline came rushing through his body, he summoned all of the strength he had left.

The two police officers that had followed the boys into the house pushed Seth away and began to cut Summer's ties with their knives.

"Get out of here!" One of them shouted, pushing Seth towards the door.

Ryan pulled at Seth's arm. "Come on!" he screamed.

Seth felt how the world around him slowly faded away. The smoke numbed all of his senses, and he knew he would pass out any second now.

Suddenly, there was a slap on his back head, making his senses coming back again.

Seth spun around to face Eric, who stood in front of him, looking infuriated.

He felt all the hatred and anger that had impounded over the past years inside of him coming out. His hands went to Eric's throat. Eric didn't try to defend himself.

Seth squeezed his hands around Eric's neck as tight as he could.  
"You bastard! How could you do this to her? You're gonna pay for this-"

Suddenly, Seth felt another slap on his back head. This time it came from Ryan. His brother's hands clutched his shoulders, trying to pull him away from Eric to avoid the worst.

"Let's get out of here!" Ryan screamed. "This house is gonna break down in a few seconds!"

Realizing what he was about to do, Seth's grip around Eric's neck losened. He wanted Eric to pay for what he had done to Summer, but he was not a murderer. Seth slowly stepped away from Eric, his eyes never leaving those bright blue eyes that had caused so much pain over the past few years.

All of a sudden, with a huge bang, one of the roof's beams came crushing down, separating Seth and Eric from each other.

Seth quickly looked at the place where Summer had been before, and when he saw that she had already been carried out of the house by the two police officers, he stepped back, slowly at first.

Eric gave him the most intensive look anyone could imagine.

Seth's steps fastened, but still his eyes never left Eric's.

Suddenly, Eric broke into a huge smile, and his mouth started to form what would be his last words.

"G O N E".

Terrified, Seth broke into a run, right behind Ryan, and tried to escape the house before it would bury them.

When the two boys were outside, they fell on the floor, both coughing and their lungs burning for some fresh air.

The noises around them had increased, the wood of the house groaning more and more now. Some other beams crushed inside of the house.

Seth breathed as fast as he could to recover his body from all the poisonous smoke he had just breathed in.

His eyes went up to the window where Eric had been standing afore. He could perceive a person in all the smoke and dust.

Eric leant out of the window, still smiling. He stared Seth deep into the eyes, and broke into a laugh.

It was the moment the whole building crashed down, burying Eric underneath it, ending Summer's and Seth's nightmare forever.

* * *

Seth sheltered his head with his hands as the house crashed down.

When the sound of burning wood faded out and was replaced by the sound of water that came from the fire rescue's car, Seth looked up again.

He checked on Ryan first, who still lay next to him, breathing steadily to recover from what had happened a few moments before.

Seth saw a crying Marissa running over to them, kneeling down to Ryan, hugging and kissing him like she never wanted to let him go.

Seth stood up and looked for Summer who had to be somewhere in the terrible mess that was in front of the ruin.

He spotted an ambulance where loads of doctors and nurses were hovering over Summer's body.

Seth ran over to the ambulance on shaky legs to see how the doctors fought for Summer's life.

Once again.

Flashbacks of little Baby Cohen's birth came to his mind where the doctors had told him that Summer had almost died because she had lost so much blood.

And now they were fighting for her life again.

Seth felt hot tears coming up inside of him as the doctors ventilated his beautiful wife. He started to shake, all the strain that had been retaining over the past few weeks inside of him coming out.

He didn't dare to say a word, he just stood there, helpless, and watched the scenery that seemed like a nightmare to him.

Seth felt Ryan's arm around his shoulder.

The touch of a loved one make him break down eventually. He burst into tears, burying his head in Ryan's shoulder.

Marissa stood next to the brothers, shaking and crying as well as she prayed for Summer to be fine again.

And then the miracle happened.

Summer coughed and the tension that had been among the doctors seemed to disappear imediately.

"There she is again," one of the nurses said and stroked Summer's head.

Seth broke free from Ryan's embrace and ran over to the pallet Summer was lying on.

Summer directly stared at him, her face forming into a weak smile as she recognized who he was.

Seth took Summer's hand and peppered it with thousands of kisses, tears of relief streaming down his face.

Summer coughed again as she tried to talk.

Seth softly laid a finger over Summer's lips. "Shhh. Don't talk now." He whispered and laid his head on Summer's chest.

He could hear her heartbeat. It was the best sound he had ever heard before.

"I love you." It were only three words, but hearing Summer saying them made Seth feel like the happiest person on earth.

He looked up and straight into her bambi-brown eyes. "I love you too." He replied, tiny tears of joy running down his cheeks. He lifted his head and gave her a long, loving kiss on the lips.

Finally, everything would be good.

_Next chapter: Until The End Of Time_

_PS: Did you really think I would kill off Summer? I could never do that ;) So look forward to a very happy mushy ending! ;)_


	16. Until The End Of Time

_Okay, so here we go… the last chapter of this story… all that I have left is an epilogue that shows how Seth and Summer's lives have turned out a few years after Eric. _

_A big THANKS to all of you who reviewed, especially the people who reviewed so regularly! I really really appreciate how much you like my story, and I hope you're gonna review my next one as well! _

_Seriously, reviews are the best way to see if people like what you're doing or if they don't… _

_So enjoy the promised mushy happy ending!_

_And please leave me a final review with your thoughts about this story, it would mean so much!_

_Steffi_

**Until The End Of Time **

Softly, Summer traced the light pink bruise on her left cheek and examined herself in the bathroom mirror.

The bruise was the only evidence of what she had been through the last couple of days. But pretty soon, just like the man who put her through another nightmare, the bruise would fade away.

Summer sighed and pulled out a make up tube from one of the shelves and put something of the cream on her forefinger, to rub it over the bruise. The least she could do was cover it and act like she was perfectly fine. Even if she knew that she wasn't.

The memory of the past days tightened her breast, and as she recalled how close to death she had been, a slight tear ran over her face.

"Hey you."

In shock, Summer gasped and spun around to see Seth standing in the door frame, giving her a warm smile.

"Oh, it's just you." She said and turned around again.

Slowly, Seth went over to her and hugged her from behind, placing a gentle kiss on her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Now Summer had to smile as well as she leant into Seth's embrace. The couple both looked at each other in the mirror. When Seth saw how Summer had tried to cover her bruise with make up, his hand went up to her cheek and softly traced it.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked, his gaze worried.

Summer nodded slightly and smiled. "Yeah." She whispered and pulled Seth's arms closer around her.

For a long time, the two of them just stood in the bathroom, hugging and simply enjoying each other's company.

After a while, Summer turned around and faced Seth. "I'm so glad I found you." She whispered almost unhearable and leant her head against Seth's chest.

A happy smile escaped Seth's lips, and he kissed Summer on the top of her head again.

Summer looked up again. "I love you so much."

Seth gave Summer a broad smile. "And I love you." He replied. "And I'm so glad you're back."

Just like being brought together by some secret magnet, their lips neared each other and they lost themselves in a long, passionate kiss that made both of them completely aware of how lucky they were to be with each other.

After a little while, Summer softly pulled away from Seth and smiled at him. "Come on now." She said and took Seth's hand to softly guide him out of the bathroom.

"Let's have our baby named officially."

* * *

The christening of Julian Alexander Cohen was a huge event that brought the whole Cohen-Cooper-Atwood patchwork family together.

Almost a whole month after his birth, Seth and Summer Cohen's son was officially named in front of his family. The young parents knew that their child had the most beautiful name on earth. The cute little baby boy truly deserved it. He had been living without a name for the first four weeks of his life.

But now that Summer had regained all of her memory, and now that everything semed to be working out perfectly fine, the young parents were finally able to chose a name for their first child.

After the ceremony, the whole family had dinner together in the Cohen's backyard.

Kirsten stood at the edge of the patio, watching her son and his wife cuddling and kissing their cute little baby over and over again.

Ryan came up from behind and laid a hand on Kirsten's shoulder.

"They're cute, huh?" he asked and smiled broadly.

Kirsten laughed. Ryan had just trapped her becoming sentimental again. She nodded and turned around to face her son.

"I'm so happy for them. They truly deserve this." She said and tried to hold back her tears of joy. She pointed out to Summer who just held her little boy up in the air, trying to make him laugh. "Especially Summer doesn't seem to get enough of little Cohen."

Ryan nodded and smiled. "Well, she's got a lot of time to make up."

Kirsten smiled again and gave Sandy, who had just joined the little family gathering, a kiss on the cheek. "Do you think it's time for the surprise now?" she asked her husband, who nodded.

"Sure it is. Give me a mike, and I'm happy." Sandy said and the couple strolled off to reveal the secret arrangement they had made.

Ryan laughed as he watched his parents leave the patio, as he felt Marissa's arms hugging him from behind.

"Look how happy they are." she whispered into his ear.

Ryan turned around and smiled at his girlfriend. "Wait until Kirsten and Sandy are finished, then they're gonna be really happy." He said and took Marissa's hand in his to pay attention to Sandy who had just climbed the grill counter in the Cohen's backyard to make an announcement.

* * *

Sandy patted a spoon against his glass of champagne and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, can I have your attention please?" he asked and smiled when everyone stared at him.

"Thank you."

He pointed out to Seth and Summer.

"Will you two please come over here, your mother and I have a surprise prepared for you."

Summer frowned at Seth as she tried to find out what her parents-in-law had prepared. The only answer Seth had was a shrug, as he was completely unaware as well of what was about to happen.

When the two of them arrived at the counter, Sandy climbed down and took an envelope Kirsten handed him, and gave it to Seth.

"Our son, this is for you." Sandy said and looked at Summer. "And for you, our daughter."

Summer smiled and swallowed hard to hide how touched she was from Sandy's comment.

Kirsten nipped baby Julian in the cheek. "And for you, too." She added and smiled as she watched Seth opening the envelope.

Summer stood on her tiptoes to see what was in the envelope when she saw how Seth's jaw dropped. Her husband's hand sunk down and he looked unbelievingly at his parents.

"Mom, Dad, this is…" was all Seth could manage to say.

Kirsten folded her hands in front of her face and grinned broadly. "You deserve it." She said and stroked her son's cheek.

Sandy nodded enthusiastically. "It's the least we can do."

Unnerved, Summer ripped the envelope out of Seth's hand to see what oh-so-touching thing was in it.

And when she discovered it, her hand sunk down just like Seth's had a few seconds ago.

Kirsten and Sandy had built a brand new house for the young family, with a huge garden for children to play in, a pool and a poolhouse.

One tiny tear ran down Summer's cheek as she leant over to Kirsten and Sandy to embrace them, as good as she could with her little son on one arm. Seth joined his family for the embrace.

Both of them knew that their new life had just begun, and that with all of their great friends and family, this life could be the best life ever.

* * *

One week after the christening, Seth, Summer and Julian moved into their new house, not far away from the Cohen house. And after having been apart for so long, the three of them tried to spend as much time together as possible. After all they had been through, they knew that time together was more precious than anything else.

One evening, Seth and Summer lay in their bed, their small son sleeping peacefully between them. From time to time, his gorgeous little face would start to smile.

Summer watched her baby and softly kissed his little, one and a half month old head.

"Sweet dreaming." She whispered.

Seth smiled as well and watched Summer caressing the little baby. After a while, he silently took her face in his hands and started stroking it with his thumbs.

Their eyes locked for a long time before Summer finally started to speak.

"I'm okay," she whispered, knowing very well what Seth was thinking about. "Eric can't harm me anymore."

Seth took his hands back and nodded. "You're so strong in every way, it amazes me every time."

Summer smiled and leant over to kiss her husband lovingly. "The scars on my soul are gonna take a very long time to heal." She answered. "But as long as I have you…" she smiled at Seth, "…and you…" she said and carefully rubbed the baby's little tummy, "…I'l be perfectly fine."

Just as if he had heard what was said around him during his sleep, little Julian started to smile again. It made the hearts of the young partens melt.

Summer sighed happily and took one of her son's tiny hands in hers. "It's unbelievable how much I love him." She said.

Seth grinned and nodded. "I know what you mean…" he took the baby's other hand. "We need to have more of these."

Summer raised her eyebrows. "Sure, Cohen, cuz it was so funny the first time." She joked. She looked down at Julian and her face became serious. "Let's just live – and see what happens. Deal?"

Seth smiled. "Deal. Nothing I'd rather do."

When the two of them lost themselves in a long, passionate kiss, the baby that still slept between them smiled once again.

It was a smile that made their lives perfect.

Until the end of time.

_Read on and see the epilogue…_


	17. Epilogue: What They Saw Was Bliss

_And last but not least, the epilogue… so everyone of you can see how Seth and Summer have been doing, and how they will do for the rest of their lives ;)_

_Yeah, I am quite a fan of happy endings ;)_

_Again, reviews make me happy :)_

**Epilogue: What They Saw Was Bliss**

The warm California summer sun was setting in the sky. A mild sea breeze blew over the beach, filling the air with its typical salty smell, and the laughter of children filled the air.

Seth and Summer stood bare-footed in the warm sand and watched the sunset, Seth hugging Summer from behind, her head resting on his chest.

A little hand tucked at Summer's skirt. "Mommy, can we collect some shells?" the tiny voice asked, looking at Seth and Summer with big brown innocent eyes.

Summer and Seth went on their knees and Summer hugged the little child. "Of course you can." She said and stroked the child's hair.

"But be sure not to go into the water too far." Seth added and gave the child a loving clap on the bottom.

The little boy laughed happily and ran off to the shore to search for some shells.

Seth and Summer sat down on the sand and cuddled into each other's arms again.

"I could watch them all day," Summer said happily.

Seth laughed. "You pretty much are." He said and kissed Summer's head.

Summer turned around to face Seth and frowned. "Sure, like raising three children isn't enough work, you little-"

She was interrupted by Seth's lips who made her lose herself completely in a long, loving kiss.

"Happy tenth anniversary," he whispered softly and stroked her cheek with his fingers.

Summer smiled happily. "Happy tenth anniversary." She repeated and leant over to kiss her husband again.

After the kiss, Summer leant back into Seth's arms and reflected about her life.

Eight years from now, her new life had begun, with the birth of her and Seth's little son Julian, and the death of Eric, the man who had almost destroyed Summer's life.

Twice.

Although she had been sure never to have a baby again, two years after Julian's birth Summer fell pregnant again, this time giving birth without any complications to a lovely little daughter they called Jennie and who was the exact counterpart of her.

And even though Seth and Summer had thought of their family as complete then, little Mark had happened two years after Jennie came into the world.

Summer smiled as she watched how little Mark tried to keep up with his older siblings who were chasing each other around the beach and laughed.

Ryan and Marissa's two daughters Lila and Alyssa had joined the Cohen children to play with them. From time to time, Seth and Summer would watch Ryan and Marissa's children and vice versa. Every married couple needed their alone time.

And to the relief of the whole Cohen clan, Ryan and Marissa had finally gotten married soon after their second daughter's birth.

Seth smiled as well and pulled Summer closer to him.

After ten years of being married to the most wonderful woman in the whole world, he still didn't seem to get enough of her.

He knew he would never be able to love anybody more than her – except for his children, and he knew that Summer felt the same. Just as a confirmation, Summer leant over and kissed him again, soft and loving.

"I love you." Summer whispered into Seth's ear. And even after almost 15 years of being together with Summer, ten of them married, those three words made Seth shiver so wonderfully like the first time he heard Summer say them.

"I love you." He replied and kissed her softly on the cheek. Summer smiled and felt as happy as she had never been before. And she knew that she wouldn't be any happier in her life. She had Seth and their three wonderful children. What else could a woman wish for?

Seth smiled as well as he watched his children playing. He remembered the policy his and Summer's marriage was built on.

"_Let's just live and see what happens."_

They had lived and had seen what happened. They still did, and they always would be.

And what they saw was bliss.

**THE END**


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